Director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk were arrested for their work Finist, the Brave Falcon.
A Russian playwright and theater director accused of “justifying terrorism” declared in a Moscow court that he is innocent on the first day of his trial for staging an award-winning play.
The arrest of director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk in May last year sent shockwaves through the Russian arts community, which has faced increasing pressure from the Kremlin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. .
Prosecutors have charged the couple over their play Finist, the Brave Falcon, about Russian women who were lured into marriages with Islamic State militants in Syria and imprisoned upon returning to Russia. He has been awarded two prestigious Golden Mask awards.
Berkovich, 39, has also written poems criticizing the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The two women told a Moscow military court that they had set out to defend “terrorism,” not support it, according to a transcript of the hearing published by the independent media outlet Mediazona, which reports on the Russian trials.
“I mounted the action to prevent terrorism,” Berkovich, 39, said in court, Mediazona reported. Towards the terrorists, he said, “I have nothing but condemnation and disgust.”
Petriychuk, 44, echoed Berkovich and denied any blame.
Berkovich has repeatedly asked the court to place her under house arrest to care for her adopted teenage daughters who have disabilities.
Berkovich's mother, activist Yelena Efros, told AFP the charges against her daughter were “absurd.”
“I'm sure they will say whatever is necessary to demonstrate the absurdity of this accusation,” she said.
Petriychuk said she had a younger sister and elderly parents who depended on her.
“There is no justification for terrorism in the play,” he said, also denying that he was guilty.
The Kremlin has put arts institutions under tighter control since launching its offensive in Ukraine in 2022. Many of Russia's leading artistic figures have left the country.
The Kremlin does not comment on individual cases and says Russia is engaged in an existential struggle with the West and needs to firmly defend its laws and defend itself.
More than 16,000 people have signed an online petition, launched by the newspaper's Nobel Prize-winning editor Dmitry Muratov, calling for the charges against the women to be dropped.
“We oppose directors, playwrights and any artist being arrested for their work in the 21st century,” the petition said.
“Pursue the murderers, not the poets,” the statement added.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the two were “being attacked simply for exercising the right to freedom of expression” and called for their immediate release.
Meanwhile, on Monday at the Cannes Film Festival, Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov defended the artists.
“They did absolutely nothing wrong, they just put on a show and they have already been in prison for a year,” Serebrennikov told reporters.
