Crimean court to consider Semena case

 - Today, April 3, Zaliznychnyi district court of Simferopol in Crimea, under Kremlin  control, is considering the case of journalist Mykola Semena, Krym.Realii said.

Previously, at the hearing on March 20, defense lawyer Aleksandr Popkov called for the trial to be held in a larger courtroom in order to let more journalists cover it and provide more space for the participants. He said that there was not enough room for he and the other defense lawyer to organize their papers and no table at all for Semena.

Crimean journalist Mykola Semena is an RFE/RL contributor, is being prosecuted for an article he wrote criticizing Moscow's seizure of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and expressing support for a blockade of the territory initiated by Ukrainian activists, Radio Liberty reports.

The charges stem from a 2015 article he wrote for RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) website that Moscow-installed authorities in Crimea allege called for the violation of Russia's territorial integrity.