Court sentences Russian theater makers to six years in prison
A Russian court has sentenced theater director Schenja Berkowitsch and playwright Swetlana Petrijtschuk to six years in prison each. The court followed the prosecutor's request, who accuses the two of justifying terrorism with their theater piece. They have been in detention for over a year.
Berkowitsch and Petrijtschuk had jointly staged the play "Finist, the Brave Falcon," in which a Russian woman falls in love on the internet, goes to Syria, and is charged with terrorism upon her return to Russia. According to the prosecutor, the play justifies terrorism. Berkowitsch and Petrijtschuk, however, testified in court that it was about preventing terrorism instead.
The trial sparked outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, initiated by the independent newspaper "Nowaja Gaseta," was signed by over 16,000 people. Dozens of Russian actors, directors, and journalists submitted affidavits urging the court to release the defendants until the completion of investigations and the trial. Berkowitsch has two adopted daughters. Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, she organized a vigil against the military campaign and was detained for eleven days.
- Despite the indictment and subsequent conviction for justifying terrorism through their play, theater director Schenja Berkowitsch and playwright Swetlana Petrijtschuk maintained during their court proceedings that their work was intended to prevent terrorism.
- In response to Berkowitsch and Petrijtschuk's detention and upcoming trial, over 16,000 individuals signed an open letter in support of the two artists, initiated by the independent newspaper "Nowaja Gaseta."
- Following Berkowitsch's active involvement in organizing a vigil against the military campaign in Ukraine, she was detained for eleven days before the commencement of years of court proceedings and detention related to the terrorism indictment.
