TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Monday opened the trial of a theater director and a playwright accused of advocating terrorism in a play, the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent in Russia that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have been jailed for over a year. Authorities claim their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them. Berkovich told the court on Monday that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play. |
Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti, 25, oils up for a racy Marc Jacobs campaignThe number of child migrants arriving in an Italian city has more than doubled, a report saysA windswept Natalie Portman and John Krasinski film a highUS Coast Guard says Texas barge collision may have spilled up to 2,000 gallons of oilBMX racing world championships hit South Carolina with Olympic berths on the lineEvery WNBA team to begin using charter flights by May 21Oakland leftSquad sizes for Copa America teams expanded from 23 players to 26How Anya TaylorBarry Keoghan joins young co