Trial Of Crimean Journalist Semena Resumes In Simferopol

Russian-appointed judges at a court in Ukraine's occupied Crimea region have conducted a new hearing in the trial of Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who is fighting what he says is a politically motivated separatism charge.

Witnesses and experts called by the defense testified at the trial on July 18.

The judge agreed to include the UN General Assembly's December 2016 resolution on human rights in Crimea -- which was seized by Russia in 2014 -- in the case documents.

The trial in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, has been delayed several times since it started in late March.

Semena faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

The charge against the 66-year-old Semena stems from an article he wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website in 2015.

The Kremlin-installed prosecutor in Crimea charged that the article had called for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity.

Semena contends that the accusation is baseless and politically motivated, and that Russian authorities have based the case on an inaccurate Russian translation of his original Ukrainian text.

Activists say Semena's trial is part of a systemic Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea since Moscow's armed occupation and takeover of the peninsula.