The theater artists Berkowitsch and Petritschuk have each been sentenced to six years in prison in Moscow. They are said to have justified terrorism with a play. Many artists see the verdict as a signal.
It wasn't that long ago that theater director Yevgeniya Berkovich and dramaturge Svetlana Petrijtschuk were celebrated by audiences and critics in Russia. Two years ago, the two women were awarded the Golden Mask twice. The award is considered the most important Russian theater prize. They received it for their play “Finist, the Bright Falcon.”
The play is about two women who meet IS fighters online and fall in love with them. They allow themselves to be recruited by the “Islamic State” and then fly to Syria. The story is based on real events and court records.
Imprisonment in penal colony
On Monday evening, both were sentenced to six years in a penal colony. Berkovich and Petrijtschuk will also be banned from accessing the Internet for three years. The court found them guilty of justifying terrorism.
During the trial, the two accused women said that they did not understand the charges, since their piece was a warning against terrorism.
The verdict was announced behind closed doors.
Helplessness, anger and incomprehension
Afterwards, supporters of the two defendants were confused, angry and incomprehensible. They had waited outside the courthouse – such as Nikolai Rybakov, the chairman of the opposition Yabloko party. He said that the state officials should not have brought Berkovich and Petrijtschuk to trial. They had been accused of something they wanted to fight against: “If the plaintiffs cannot understand this, then the director is not to blame.”
But prosecutor Yekaterina Denisova suspected a conspiracy during the trial. Berkovich and Petrijtschuk had planned to perform their play on as many stages as possible with criminal intent. The two artists therefore posed a danger to society.
The lawyer for the two women, Xenia Karpinskaya, described the court session as “absolutely illegal and unfair”. She announced that she would appeal the verdict – “although there is little hope”.
A signal to the entire theatre world in Russia?
Observers see the trial as a signal to the entire theater world in Russia. Much of it is reminiscent of the Stalin era – the cultural scene was to be purged and any anti-war attitude was to be nipped in the bud. Theater director Berkowitsch had also published poems in which she described the hardship in Ukrainian cities that had been devastated by Russian attacks.
Many theater artists, writers and musicians have already left Russia for fear of persecution. Berkovich's mother Elena Efros called yesterday not to forget the convicted women and to keep in touch with them: “We are in 2024. The world has changed beyond recognition. We do not know what to expect in a month. Write letters to the political prisoners.”
