SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Resolutions from the UN General Assembly and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region have been presented at the trial of Mykola Semena, an RFE/RL contributor who is fighting what he says is a politically motivated separatism charge.
Semena told RFE/RL after the trial's August 3 session in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, that the judge agreed to include the resolutions on Crimea into the case file. He expressed hope that the documents, as well as Russian laws that guarantee freedom of expression, would be taken into consideration by the court.
Both international resolutions condemned the annexation of Crimea as illegal under international law.
The hearing was adjourned until August 31.
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 called for the violation of Russia’s territorial integrity.
Semena faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Semena's trial has been postponed several times since it started in late March.
