A Russian playwright and a theater director sentenced to jail on prices of advocating terrorism
A Russian court docket on Monday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism expenses and sentenced them to six yrs every single in prison, the hottest in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has attained new heights given that Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a outstanding impartial theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have currently been in jail for over a 12 months awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their enjoy “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a felony offense in Russia punishable by up to 7 a long time in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both of those repeatedly turned down the accusations versus them.
In one particular listening to, Berkovich advised the court that she staged the perform in purchase to stop terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, expressing that she wrote it in get to reduce situations like individuals depicted in the engage in.
The women’s attorneys pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Society Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious countrywide theater award. In 2019, the perform was browse to inmates of a women’s jail in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary provider praised it on its internet site, Petriychuk’s law firm claimed.
The circumstance towards Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open up letter in assistance of the two artists, begun by the unbiased Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was signed by additional than 16,000 men and women due to the fact their arrest.
The perform, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely distinct anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the courtroom to release the two from custody pending investigation and demo.
Immediately following Russia introduced its comprehensive-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping campaign of repression, unparalleled given that the Soviet era. It has efficiently criminalized any criticism of the war, with the authorities targeting not only popular opposition figures who inevitably been given draconian jail conditions, but anybody who spoke out in opposition to it, publicly or usually.
Stress mounted on critical artists in Russia, too. Actors and administrators had been fired from state-run theaters, and musicians were being blacklisted from undertaking in the region. Some were being slapped with the label “foreign agent,” which carries extra government scrutiny and strong destructive connotations. Numerous have remaining Russia.
Berkovich, who is elevating two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and ongoing doing the job with her independent theater manufacturing in Moscow, called Soso’s Daughters. Soon following the get started of the war in Ukraine, she staged an anti-war picket and was jailed for 11 times.
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A Russian court docket on Monday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism expenses and sentenced them to six yrs every single in prison, the hottest in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has attained new heights given that Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a outstanding impartial theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have currently been in jail for over a 12 months awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their enjoy “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a felony offense in Russia punishable by up to 7 a long time in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both of those repeatedly turned down the accusations versus them.
In one particular listening to, Berkovich advised the court that she staged the perform in purchase to stop terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, expressing that she wrote it in get to reduce situations like individuals depicted in the engage in.
The women’s attorneys pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Society Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious countrywide theater award. In 2019, the perform was browse to inmates of a women’s jail in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary provider praised it on its internet site, Petriychuk’s law firm claimed.
The circumstance towards Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open up letter in assistance of the two artists, begun by the unbiased Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was signed by additional than 16,000 men and women due to the fact their arrest.
The perform, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely distinct anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the courtroom to release the two from custody pending investigation and demo.
Immediately following Russia introduced its comprehensive-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping campaign of repression, unparalleled given that the Soviet era. It has efficiently criminalized any criticism of the war, with the authorities targeting not only popular opposition figures who inevitably been given draconian jail conditions, but anybody who spoke out in opposition to it, publicly or usually.
Stress mounted on critical artists in Russia, too. Actors and administrators had been fired from state-run theaters, and musicians were being blacklisted from undertaking in the region. Some were being slapped with the label “foreign agent,” which carries extra government scrutiny and strong destructive connotations. Numerous have remaining Russia.
Berkovich, who is elevating two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and ongoing doing the job with her independent theater manufacturing in Moscow, called Soso’s Daughters. Soon following the get started of the war in Ukraine, she staged an anti-war picket and was jailed for 11 times.
