Separatists' Prison Sentence For Ukrainian Journalist Aseyev Sparks Outrage
Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have sentenced journalist Stanislav Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor, to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage. Aseyev has already been held since 2017, when he was captured while reporting on the separatist conflict. Rights defenders and press freedom groups are calling his imprisonment "illegal" and "shocking."