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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Friday ordered the pretrial detention of a theater director facing terrorism pleas, the latest in Russia’s relentless crackdown on dissent that has been crippled since the war in Ukraine began. Action has reached unprecedented levels.
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow has jailed renowned independent theater director and playwright Zhenya Berkovich for two months pending investigation and trial. Berkovich was detained in the Russian capital on Thursday over his staging of the play “Finist, the Brave Falcon.” Police also searched the apartments of her parents and grandmother in St. Petersburg.
The show, named after a Russian fairy tale, depicts Russian women who face prosecution after being lured into marriage by representatives of radical Islam and living in Syria. It was created by playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, who was also detained on Thursday and appeared in the same court Friday after Berkovich.
Authorities claimed the show justified terrorism, an accusation both Berkovich and Petriychuk have rejected, maintaining their innocence.
Berkovich’s lawyer, Yulia Tregubova, pointed out in court on Friday that the play was supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture and won Russia’s most prestigious national theater prize, the Golden Mask Award.
Justifying terrorism is a criminal offense in Russia, punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The case against Berkovich and Petrichuk has sparked outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, initiated by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, had more than 3,400 signatures by Friday night. The letter noted that the show “has an absolutely unequivocal anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed an affidavit urging the court to release Berkovich pending an investigation and trial.
Immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping crackdown unprecedented since the Soviet era.It effectively criminalized any criticism of the war, with authorities not only targeting prominent opposition figures who ended up in jail, but anyone against itin public or otherwise.
Critical artists in Russia are also under pressure. Actors and directors have been fired from state-run theaters, and musicians have been blacklisted from performing in the country. Some have been labeled “foreign agents,” implying additional government scrutiny and carrying strong negative connotations. Many people left Russia.
Berkovich, who raised two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and continued to produce her independent theater production in Moscow called Soso’s Daughters. Shortly after the war in Ukraine broke out, she staged an anti-war picket and was sentenced to 11 days in prison.
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