The request to extend the detention of director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk on charges tied to legitimizing terrorism has been postponed from September 5 to September 6. A representative from DEA News confirmed that lawyer Sergei Badamshin is involved in the case.
The Moscow Khamovniki Court is set to review the petition on September 6 at 14:00.
Earlier, at the end of June, the court extended the arrest of both individuals until September 10. The investigation included a psycholinguistic assessment to be conducted by an FSB unit based in the Sverdlovsk region.
In early May, the Moscow Zamoskvoretsky Court arrested Petriychuk and Berkovich under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which concerns the act of legitimizing terrorism via the Internet. The article carries a potential prison term of five to seven years.
The arrest followed a YouTube performance of the play Finist the Clear Sokol, in which experts identified indicators that could be interpreted as legitimizing terrorism, the ideology of the Islamic State, and jihadism.
The defendants’ counsel argues that the investigation is overly aggressive and unlawful, citing a response from the Russian Ministry of Justice’s VFBU RFTSSE. The response explains that such examinations are not conducted by the RFTSSE and that destructology is not recognized as a science, technology, or craft under current Russian law.
The show centers on two women who form relationships with radical Islam supporters online and travel to Syria. It has earned recognition including the Golden Mask award and received funding from the Ministry of Culture along with other sources.
The Russian Jewish Congress has approached Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, to request that the religious scholar Roman Silantyev, a noted expert on the Berkovich case, be evaluated for potential incitement of ethnic hatred.
In related commentary, a former official noted that the central artwork of the Burning Man festival has not, in fact, been burned.