The Moscow City Court rejected a complaint to extend the arrest of director Evgenia Berkovich and screenwriter Svetlana Petriychuk, who are accused of inciting terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) because of the play “Finist Yasny Falcon”. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.
Svetlana Petriychuk (left) and Evgenia Berkovich ( on right). Photo: Mediazona
The defense appealed the decision of the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow, which left Berkovich and Petriychuk in pre-trial detention until November 4.
During the hearing about her arrest, Berkovich said this: “If this is an element of intimidation not for me, but for some part of the Russian theater society, then, believe me too, in six months everyone who could be scared and upset, Already scared and upset. And everyone who could rejoice and rub their hands together, write some anonymous nasty thing or a non-anonymous manifesto, has already written and rejoiced. Nothing new will happen here.”
The creators of the production “Finist the Clear Falcon” have been in pre-trial detention since May. The investigation found “calls for terrorism” in the play, which tells about Russian women who decided to go to Syria to join the Islamists. The production was released in 2021 and received two Golden Masks.