Russia sentences playwright and theater director to six years in prison for ‘justifying terrorism’ with play

A Moscow court sentenced theater director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk to six years in prison each on charges of “justifying terrorism” on Monday, granting the penalty requested by prosecutors.

The charges against the two artists stem from Berkovich’s award-winning production of Petriychuk’s play “Finist the Bright Falcon,” which is based on the experiences of hundreds of Russian women who moved to Syria to join ISIS after being recruited online. During the trial, state-appointed “experts witnesses” testified that the play contained “signs of radical feminist ideology,” romanticized the image of a terrorist, and discriminated against Russian men, among other things.

Berkovich and Petriychuk were arrested in May 2023 and have been in remand prison since then.