Svetlana Petriychuk, the writer and Yevgenia Berkovich, both received sentences from the Russian military court on Monday for” defending terrorism” with their play” Finist the Brave Falcon.”
Petriychuk, 44, and Berkovich, 39, have been in prison since May 2023. Through their version of a typical fairy tale that tells the tales of Russian ladies lured website to meet the Islamic State group, they were accused of promoting violence. Prosecutors Ekaterina Denisova argued that Berkovich supported and spread terrorism by holding “extremely extreme Islamic ideologies” under Petriychuk’s rule. The judge also forbids both women from “administrating sites” for three years after their discharge.
” Finist the Brave Falcon” premiered in 2020 and won two Golden Mask prizes, the highest honor in Russian drama. The game’s key figure, feeling betrayed by her manager, results to Russia only to be imprisoned as a criminal. Petriychuk and Berkovich both asserted that the play had a concept that was anti-terror.
” I definitely do not understand what this set of words has to do with me”, said Berkovich, when she pleaded not guilty. I have never been a part of any other religion, neither extreme nor non-Islamic. I regard Islam’s religion, but I find myself only bemoaned and disgusted by terrorists.
The test, held largely behind closed doors, heightened worries about freedom of expression in Russia. Ksenia Karpinskaya, a defense attorney, said the hearing was “absolutely unlawful” and “unfair,” promising to charm despite having “little hope.”
Celebrities in Russia, including Yulia Peresild, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry A. Muratov, have condemned the situation. Followers suggest Berkovich’s trial may be linked to her important poems about Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.
Since the war of Ukraine, Russia’s musical society has faced increasing pressure from the Kremlin. The assault has successfully criminalized extra- war attitude, and more than 99 % of criminal investigations in Russia result in convictions.
The sentence comes in the wake of recent lethal attacks by Islamist insurgents in Moscow and Dagestan, where the Kremlin alleged unsupported ties to Ukraine. The case demonstrates the wider repression of opposition and creative expression in Russia, which has drawn criticism and global attention.
