Director & Playwright Sentenced to 6 Years Prison

Theater director Evgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been sentenced by a military court in Moscow to six years in prison over a play about Islamic State that the court said “justified terrorism”.

Footage and images published by the outlet SOTA show Evgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk at their trial at the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow on Monday, July 8. The footage also shows people waiting outside the court and shouting in support of the women.

Finist, the Bright Falcon

Berkovich and Petriychuck were sentenced over their production of Petriychuk’s play Finist, the Bright Falcon, in which Russian women travel to Syria to marry members of Islamic State. The women were also banned from using the Internet for three years as part of their sentence, according to SOTA. Their lawyer said they would appeal the verdict, according to Meduza.

Credit: SOTA via Storyful