Media reports say the Western District military court in Moscow yesterday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism charges and sentenced them to six years each in prison.
The court's ruling was identical to the prosecutor’s earlier demand. The Moscow News says prosecutor had asked for Berkovich, 39, and Petriychuk, 44, to each be sentenced to six years in a penal colony during the closed-door trial in Moscow last week.
ABC News reports that Yevgenia Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have already been in jail for over a year awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their play “Finist, the Bright Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
In one hearing, Berkovich reportedly told the court that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play.
According to ABC News, the women’s lawyers pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious national theater award.
In 2019, the play was read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary service praised it on its website, Petriychuk’s lawyer said.
The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, started by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was reportedly signed by more than 16,000 people since their arrest.
The play, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the court to release the two from custody pending investigation and trial.
