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.
Trump accepts a VP debate but wants it on Fox News. Harris has already said yes to CBS
Taikonauts Keep Lantern Festival Traditions Alive on Space Station
China to Boost Green Shift in Cities and Villages: Ministry
Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
Local Authorities Take Measures to Improve People's Living and Working Conditions in Guangxi
Mainland Medical Experts Arrive in Hong Kong in Fighting COVID
Winter Paralympic Torch Relay Held in Beijing's Olympic Forest Park
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
In Pics: Onboard Markets on 'Slow Trains'
Iran helicopter crash that killed President Raisi could reverberate across the Middle East
Mainland Medical Experts Arrive in Hong Kong in Fighting COVID