RFE/RL President Thomas Kent Condemns Sentence Of Crimean Journalist

RFE/RL President Thomas Kent has condemned the sentence of Crimean journalist Mykola Semena, describing it as “part of an orchestrated effort by Russian authorities in Crimea to silence independent voices.” On September 22, a court in Ukraine’s occupied Crimean Peninsula found RFE/RL contributor Semena guilty on a separatism charge. The court handed him a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence, meaning Semena would not be imprisoned unless he violates the terms of the verdict. The separatism charge stems from an article Semena 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.