Crimean court sentences journalist Semena to 2.5 years probation
The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Simferopol, which is controlled by the Kremlin, has sentenced Crimean journalist Mykola Semena to a two and a half years suspended sentence with a probation period of three years and a prohibition on engagement in public activities, Krym.Realii reported.
The day prior, Semena made a final speech in court, during which he said that if he were convicted, it would "affect all of journalism in Russia."
The Prosecutor called for punishment for Semena in the form of three years of a suspended sentence, with probation of three years and deprivation of the right to engage in any public activity for three years.
Mykola Semena was journalist for Radio Liberty and Krym.Realii who "was accused by the Russian authorities of public calls to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation". In April 2016, the FSB conducted a search in his house, and in May of the same year the journalist was charged with publishing an article regarded as an "excuse for terrorism."