A date has been set for the high-profile trial of journalist Mykola Semena in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian region of Crimea.
Semena's lawyer, Emil Kurbedinov, told RFE/RL on February 8 that preliminary hearings into the case will be held by the Zaliznychnyy district court in Simferopol on February 17.
Kurbedinov said the actual trial for Semena, an RFE/RL contributor, will start on February 28.
Semena has been charged with separatism and may be sentenced to five years in prison if convicted for an article he wrote on his blog that was critical of Moscow’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Semena denies the charges.
He is currently under a court order from occupying Russian officials that bars him from leaving Crimea and forces him to seek permission before traveling outside the region's capital, Simferopol.
The United States, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and international media watchdogs have expressed concern over Semena's case, which activists say is part of a Russian clampdown on independent media and dissent in Crimea.
