In the trial of Evgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk, a secret witness was questioned who brought a recording of the performance to the Center "E"

In Moscow, in the 2nd Western District Military Court, where the trial of director Yevgeniya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk is continuing, a secret witness was questioned who brought a video of the play "Finist the Bright Falcon" to the police. His testimony from the courtroom is reported by a correspondent of "Mediazona".

Judge Yuri Massin assigned the witness the pseudonym “Nikita” and ordered that he be questioned via audio link with a distorted voice.

Answering questions from state prosecutor Ekaterina Denisova, "Nikita" confirmed that in the fall of 2022, he secretly filmed a performance at the Moscow theater "Space Inside" on his phone, and then took the recording to the Center for Combating Extremism. According to the witness, he was convinced to do so by a Muslim friend from the North Caucasus.

According to “Nikita,” before heading to Petrovka 38, he hesitated for a long time, but in the end “civic responsibility” prevailed: “My conscience tormented me that there was such a work that advertised the values ​​of radical Islam, that Russia was bad, men were bad here, and they were all good there.”

"The terrorists are shown as victims, and the Russian state and society are blamed. Because it was they who pushed the girls - this follows from their own stories - to join ISIS," "Nikita" explained his indignation.

In response to Judge Massin’s question, the witness admitted that he had not even read the explanatory note that was written on Petrovka based on his words.

"I trust the police," he said.

According to Nikita's testimony in court, he worked at the Lyubimovka festival, where a reading of the play was presented back in 2019. During the hearing, he addressed Yevgeniya Berkovich informally, and called Svetlana Petriychuk and her husband Yuri Shekhvatov "Sveta" and "Yura".

The witness insisted that Berkovich and Petriychuk had "agreed" on the future production of the play even before the reading of "Finist" at the festival, and during the discussion of the play after the reading they entered into a "conspiracy" regarding "planning an advertising campaign" and a suitable date for publishing the video, "in order to attract more attention." At the same time, all videos with readings of "Lyubimovka" according to the conditions of the festival are published on YouTube on the same day, and the participants cannot influence this, Petriychuk reminded.

"I work in the theatre industry and I know the attitude towards this issue. I'm afraid for my career," "Nikita" explained his anonymity. "People in the theatre are especially emotional. They can react sharply. I just don't know what to expect."

Earlier, during the June 6 meeting, Center E operative Roman Lisukov told how in March 2023, a certain "citizen" brought a secretly made recording of the performance to the police, because he saw in it "all possible justification for the activities of the terrorist organization ISIS." According to Lisukov, this well-wisher "is very much afraid for his life," so his interrogation was classified.

Lawyer Ksenia Karpinskaya said at today's hearing that the defense considers this video to be unlawful evidence, since it was obtained with violations. According to Karpinskaya, "by interrogating an unknown person, the prosecution tried to level out the errors of the investigation in obtaining evidence."

Evgeniya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk are accused of justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) because of the play "Finist the Clear Falcon" about the fate of Russian women who marry Islamists and leave for Syria. Since May 2023, Petriychuk and Berkovich have been in pretrial detention.