The Moscow City Court delayed ruling on objections to extending detention for Evgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk in the terrorism-related case, according to RIA News.
The judge explained that the hearing was postponed to October 25 because the court had received new objections from lawyer Sergei Gruzdev, who was unable to attend the October 23 session. Berkovich, Petriychuk, and the other defense attorneys must review these additions before the next hearing.
Earlier in September, the Khamovnichesky District Court extended the detention of Berkovich and Petriychuk until November 4. The court said the investigation could not be completed due to forthcoming examinations, including psychological-psychiatric and psychological-linguistic automatic regulation studies. It also cited risks that the defendants could flee, continue criminal activity, or obstruct the proceedings.
The detention extension was tied to concerns raised by investigators after the online publication of a YouTube reading of the play “Finist Yasnyi Sokol,” which experts claimed showed elements that could be interpreted as supportive of terrorism, the ideology of the extremist organization Islamic State, and jihadist tendencies.
The defense for the defendants argues that the so-called destructive examination is illegal and points to a response from the All-Russian Federal Social Security Institution under the Ministry of Justice. The response states that such studies are not conducted at the Russian Federal Economic Review Center and that the concept of destructology is not recognized as a science or field of technology, art, or craft according to Russian law. The document notes that personal data was involved in the discussion. [Citation: RIA News]
The case centers on Berkovich, the director of the play, and Petriychuk, the scriptwriter. The production narrates the story of women who decide to marry men associated with radical Islamist movements and travel to Syria to join them. The project has received the Golden Mask award and was financed in part by the Ministry of Culture. [Citation: RIA News]
Additionally, it is noted that the director previously worked on music videos for Slava Marlow and that an amount of one million rubles was requested from the artist. [Citation: RIA News]