TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a theater director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them. Berkovich told the court on Monday that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play. |
Who is youngestLiam Gallagher rents swanky £17,000The foods that cancer experts want you to stop eatingRadek Faksa scores in return, Stars oust defending Stanley Cup champ Golden Knights 2Outrage as proNutrition experts add traffic light health labels to famous food paintingsStars and DeBoer moving on after ousting Cup champ Vegas in tight 7NBC will stick with dual announcers and analysts for the US OpenCollege protests: Columbia University cancels main commencementNBC will stick with dual announcers and analysts for the US Open