Yevgeniya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk’s charges were based on play about women marrying jihadists in Syria
Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/APPhotograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/APLast modified on Mon 8 Jul 2024 22.15 CEST
The women’s arrest in May last year sent shock waves through Russia’s artistic community, which has faced unprecedented pressure from the Kremlin since Russia sent troops to Ukraine. Human rights group Amnesty International said the pair were “being targeted simply for exercising the right to freedom of expression” and called for their immediate release.
Defence lawyer Ksenia Karpinskaya said after the sentence that “today was an absolutely illegal, unfair hearing” and that the women were “absolutely innocent”, to applause from those present.“Today at the court hearing, Svetlana said that she … will never plead guilty for something she did not do. Yevgeniya said the same,” the lawyer said.
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