A court in Russia on Friday ordered the pre-trial detention of a prominent theater director and a playwright after they were accused of “justifying terrorism”.
Director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk will be detained for at least two months while awaiting trial, Russian news agencies reported.
The indictment comes as many in Russia’s theater and arts scene have fled the country while Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling widespread dissent at home.
What are they accused of?
Berkovich and Petriychuk were arrested in Moscow on Thursday. Authorities also searched the apartments of Berkovich’s parents and grandmother in St. Petersburg.
The charges against the two stem from a play called Finist the Brave Falcon, which was named after a Russian fairy tale.
The play, performed only by women, tells the story of Russian women who were prosecuted after being solicited online to marry radical Islamists in Syria.
Authorities claim the play “convinces terrorism” – a charge that could carry up to seven years in prison.
Playwright Svetlana Petriychuk (pictured above) and director who directed the show, Zhenya Berkovich, face up to seven years in prisonImage: Nemever/Wikipedia
On Friday, Berkovich’s attorney noted in court that “Finist, the Brave Falcon” won two Golden Mask theater awards — Russia’s most prestigious national theater award — in the past year. The play was also supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture.
Petriychuk’s lawyer added that the play was read to inmates at a women’s prison in Siberia in 2019 and that the Russian State Penitentiary Service praised the work on its website.
How was the reaction?
The arrest of the 38-year-old theater director and 43-year-old playwright has shaken the Russian theater scene – at home and abroad.
Many Russian actors and directors called the allegations absurd, with some suggesting that the allegations had less to do with the play and more to do with Berkovich’s opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Berkovich has published several poems criticizing President Vladimir Putin’s more than year-long war in Ukraine.
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As of Friday evening, an open letter in support of the two artists had been signed by over 3,400 people. The letter, which was launched by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, argued that the play “carries an absolutely clear anti-terror sentiment”.
“It’s a bit like arresting Dostoyevsky for justifying the murder of old ladies after writing Crime and Punishment,” journalist Alexander Baumov was quoted as saying by the news website Meduza.
Berkovich was also a former student of one of Russia’s most successful directors, Kirill Serebrennikov, who fled the country.
“Such people in culture are a rarity in a normal country, a miracle, a pride. But in Russia everything is reversed now,” Serebrennikov said after the announcement of Berkovich’s arrest.
“You’re a star,” he said, calling her his “most talented” student.
Strike Artist
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the government and authorities launched a campaign of repression not seen since Soviet times.
Criticism of the war has been effectively criminalized – and those who speak out against Russia’s actions face lengthy prison terms.
Many actors, writers, directors and musicians are facing growing pressure – prompting many to flee the country.
Berkovich, who is raising two adopted daughters, has refused to leave Russia.
RS/SMS (AP, AFP)
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