Simferopol’s Zheleznodorozhny Regional Court has handed down a guilty verdict against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Krym.Realii contributor Mykola Semena.
“The journalist was given a two and a half year suspended sentence with a probationary period of three years. He is forbidden to engage in public activities for three years,” Krym.Realii said.
Semena a day earlier addressed the court, saying if he was found guilty it would be a blemish on journalism in Russia.
Prosecutors on September 18 demanded Semena be given a three year suspended prison sentence and forbidden to engage in any public activities for three years.
Semena was charged by Russian authorities with calling publicly to violate the territorial integrity of Russia. Russia’s Federal Security Bureau searched his home in April 2016. He was charged in May 2016 for an article published on Krym.Realii. Semena is currently confined to house arrest.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on May 3 called on Russian officials of annexed Crimea to stop harassing Ukrainian journalists on the peninsula, including Semena.
