Svetlana Petriychuk

Playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, and educator. Winner of the 2022 Golden Mask Award for the play Finist the Brave Falcon.

A court found director Evgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk guilty of "justifying terrorism" and sentenced them to six years in a general-regime penal colony. The reason was the play Finist the Brave Falcon, directed by Evgenia and written by Svetlana.

2020s

Cases of justifying terrorism

Reading time: 2 minutes

The final statement

‘All this year, I feel like a victim of the greatest absurdity I have ever encountered in life and art.’

Judge Yuri Massin closed the trial of Zhenya Berkovich and Svetlana Petrichuk to the public before the defense presented its case, and ultimately handed down a sentence of six years in a general regime penal colony, the same sentence requested by the prosecutor.

One of the first things my defense attorney said to me at the first hearing was that Berkovich and I were in the same ‘aquarium’ where Karaulova had heard her sentence. He knows this for sure: he was her defense attorney too. My drama professor, of course, taught me that I needed to study my character as deeply as possible, but I somehow didn’t expect to get to know her so closely.

All this year, I feel like a victim of the greatest absurdity I have ever encountered in life and art.

And I also feel insulted. Six years ago, when I was writing the play, I was sure that I was doing something that was highly approved by law enforcement agencies-helping to prevent crime with the resources available to me as a writer. I tried to explore the motives behind the crime, just as dozens of other writers before me had. I wrote that such women exist, and you, honorable court, know this better than anyone. We heard from more than 20 witnesses who confirmed that there is no justification of terrorism in the play.

But in fact, we are talking about a text in the Russian language, without complex vocabulary or special terms. To determine whether the author supports ISIS* or not, you don’t need to be a candidate of art history or an expert linguist. It is enough to speak Russian and have finished high school.

According to the prosecution, over the past six years, several hundred professionals in the field of theater, the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Theater Workers, and the Federal Penitentiary Service, thousands of viewers, and many hundreds of people who wrote letters to us in the pre-trial detention centre over the course of 14 months were unaware that the text justified terrorism. Oh yes, and a couple of linguists, one of whom writes books on methods of linguistic forensic examination. But the prosecution knows better.

It’s been 15 months since we’ve been in the pre-trial detention centre. And it’s the right time for the absurdity to end. So that Berkovich and I can finally do what really makes sense — work, take care of our loved ones, hug our loved ones, and restore our health. Let common sense finally win.

*A terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.

Second Western District Military Court, Moscow, Russia

8 July 2024

Source: https://t.me/petriichukdelo/728

More information about the case: Memorial

Photo: MSK1.ru.