Russian court extends detention of artists

(30 Jun 2023)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow - 30 June 2023
1. Wide of people outside court entrance
2. Police officer at police truck
3. Pan of theatre director Zhenya Berkovich being led by police out of a truck, UPSOUND applause
4. Wide of people at court fence, cars driving by
5. Pan of playwright Svetlana Petriychuk being led by police into court building, UPSOUND applause
6. Mid of Berkovich and Petriychuk being led into court room, UPSOUND applause
7. Push in on Berkovich and Petriychuk behind glass screen
8. Close of Petriychuk and Berkovich
9. Mid of media
10. Mid of Petriychuk and Berkovich
11. Close of police officer
12. Wide of court room
13. Mid of people waiting outside court room
14. Lawyers and Berkovich and Petriychuk waiting for verdict
15. Close of Golden Mask theatre award on desk
16. Close of Berkovich and Petriychuk in glass cage, UPSOUND (Russian) Yekaterina Pakhomova, judge:
“The court ruled to refuse to satisfy the request of the defense to change the measure of restraint associated with custody, to extend the term of detention of the accused Petriychuk Svetlana Aleksandrovna for two months six days, in total up to four months six days, that is, until September 10, 2023. To extend the term of detention of the accused Berkovich Yevgenia Borisovna for two months six days, up to four months six days in total, that is, until September 10, 2023.”
17. Mid of Berkovich, UPSOUND (Russian): “Be happy,” pan of court room, UPSOUND (Russian) “Shame. What a shame.”
18. Wide of crowd outside court entrance
19. Mid of plaque reading (Russian) “Khamovnichesky District Court"
20. Wide of lawyer Kseniya Karpinskaya walking
21. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Kseniya Karpinskaya, Zhenya Berkovich’s lawyer:
“The investigation did not say a single word, the court did not ask a single question, and despite all the preparation and rational arguments, it made such a decision. I cannot, having been working for almost 30 years, come to terms with such predictability. All the same, we will appeal, all the same, we believe that she (Zhenya Berkovich) is innocent, there is no evidence of guilt, and a performance cannot be a crime, even if it seems so to a ‘destructology’ expert.”
22. Court entrance, cars driving past

STORYLINE:
A Russian court on Friday extended the pretrial detention for a theatre director and a playwright facing charges of justifying terrorism. 

The Khamovnichesky District Court in Moscow extended the detention of Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and Svetlana Petriychuk, a playwright, to four months and six days in total, pending investigation and trial.

The two were detained in the Russian capital two months ago because of the play Petriychuk wrote and Berkovich staged, “Finist, the Brave Falcon.”

The play, named after a Russian fairy tale, depicts Russian women who faced prosecution after being lured into marriage and life in Syria by representatives of radical Islam. 

The play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia's most prestigious national theatre award. 

The authorities have alleged that the play justifies terrorism, accusations that both Berkovich and Petriychuk have rejected, maintaining their innocence. 

Justifying terrorism is a criminal offense in Russia, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia.




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