On January 9, 2024, the Moscow Zamoskvoretsky Court was set to review a petition to extend the detention of director Evgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, according to TASS citing lawyer Sergei Badamshin.
The Zamoskvoretsky court scheduled a meeting for January 9 at 12:30 to consider extending the preventive measure, Badamshin stated.
Earlier, on November 2, the Moscow Zamoskvoretsky Court extended the preventive measure in the form of detention against Berkovich and Petriychuk until January 10, 2024. On November 30, the Moscow City Court rejected requests to extend the detention of director Evgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk. Berkovich had directed a production that prompted this case, and at one point she was allowed to leave the pre-trial detention center to bid farewell to her grandmother, Nina Katerli, a writer.
Evgeniya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk were detained at the start of May on charges concerning the alleged legitimization of terrorism in relation to the play “Finist Yasny Falcon,” which Berkovich staged based on Petriychuk’s script. The play received recognition at Russia’s Golden Mask awards in 2022, earning two prizes in different categories.
Previously, public figures Urgant, Raikin, and Mironov urged authorities to release Director Berkovich from pre-trial detention, calling for consideration of her immediate liberty while the case proceeded.