2024-05-04 03:28:46
A Russian military court has extended the detention of director Evgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk by nearly six months, France Press reported.
The two actresses were detained on May 5 last year for “justifying terrorism” for one of their plays. Berkovic, 39, and Petrichuk, 44, could each face up to seven years in prison on the charge.
Today, a military court in the capital Moscow extended their detention until October 22. He accepted the arguments of the prosecutor in the case, that otherwise the two women might hide or run away, BTA reported.
The plot of the play “Finist – Yasen sokol” from 2020 is about Russian women who met jihadists on the Internet and went to Syria to marry them, notes AFP.
The two women have pleaded not guilty.
The play was enthusiastically received by the critics and the audience and even received two “Golden Mask” awards in 2022 – the most prestigious theatrical honor in Russia, AFP recalls.
Evgenia Berkovich has already been sentenced to 11 days in prison for a solo protest against the war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 – the day the Russian army invaded the neighboring country.