A Russian court on Tuesday kept in detention the director Yevgenia Berkovych, who defended herself from any "apology for terrorism", as the authorities accuse her, in the midst of a crackdown on criticism of the conflict in Ukraine.
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This artist was arrested in Moscow in early May along with author Svetlana Petrichuk. Accused of "glorifying terrorism" for a play written by the writer and directed by Evguénia Berkovich in 2020, the two women face seven years in prison. According to AFP correspondents, the Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld on appeal the pre-trial detention of the artist until early July.
" READ ALSO A Russian director arrested for glorifying terrorism
The play in question, Finist is a valiant falcon, awarded in Russia and performed entirely by women, told the story of Russians recruited online by Islamists in Syria and leaving to join them to marry them.
At Tuesday's hearing, Berkovych stressed that the work was supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture. "You think the ministry gave rubles to propagandize terrorism?" she said, speaking via video conference from prison and quoted by Mediazona. The accusation is based on an expertise drawing a parallel between radical Islam and the supposed "radical feminism" of Yevgenia Berkovych, said Ksenia Karpinskaya, her lawyer, also quoted by Mediazona, while denouncing a "delusional" analysis.
In recent months, "radical feminism" has entered the lexicon of the Russian regime to denounce its opponents. "The expert says that I am propagandizing radical feminism, which would argue that a woman should not raise children. Now, your honor, I want more than anything to take care of my children at this time," Yevgenia Berkovych said on Tuesday. A mother of two adopted children, she published several notable poems last year denouncing the offensive in Ukraine, which, for her supporters, would be one of the real reasons for these prosecutions.
Since the February 24, 2022 offensive, the Russian authorities have accelerated the crackdown on all dissent, with thousands of fines and heavy prison sentences targeting anonymous activists, and intellectuals.