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Arrests of Russian thespians on terror charges highlight growing repression [1]
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Date: 2023-05
The writer and director of an award-winning Russian play that’s been performed in Moscow for the past two years have been arrested and accused of terrorism. It’s the first time criminal charges have been filed over a theatre production in post-Soviet Russia.
Svetlana Petriichuk’s drama ‘Finist – The Brave Falcon’, which premiered in the Russian capital in 2021, tells the story of women who corresponded online with ISIS fighters, fell in love with them and left for Syria where they became their wives, or slaves in ISIS cells. When they returned to Russia, they were imprisoned. While a work of fiction, it draws on a number of real women’s stories.
The play has been acclaimed for making one of the most influential feminist statements in Russian theatre. In 2022, it even won two Golden Mask awards – the country’s top theatre prize – for best playwright and best costume design.
But on 5 May, Petriichuk and the play’s director, Yevgenia (‘Zhenia’) Berkovich, were taken into custody for two months of pre-trial detention on charges of ‘justifying terrorism’, which is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Moscow law enforcement claims the play contains terrorist propaganda.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-theatre-play-arrests-terror-finist-brave-falcon-war-repression-svetlana-petriichuk-yevgenia-berkovich/
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