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Russian Court Sentences Playwright, Jewish Theater Director to Prison for ‘Justifying Terrorism’ in Award-Winning Play
Director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk stand inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia on July 8, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Yulia Morozova
A court in Russia on Monday sentenced a playwright and theater director to six years each in prison for “justifying terrorism” with an award-winning play they staged together that focuses on Russian women being lured into marrying Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Syria.
Authorities arrested playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, 44, and theater director Zhenya Berkovich, 39, in May 2023. They had been in jail for over a year awaiting trial over their play “Finist the Bright Falcon,” which was first staged in 2021, shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Berkovich runs an independent theater production in Moscow called Soso’s Daughters. In April, she and Petriychuk were added to Russia’s official list of “terrorists and extremists.”
Berkovich, who is Jewish and has two adopted daughters, wrote a series of poems condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She also participated in an anti-war protest and was jailed for 11 days. Her supporters believe that her arrest and sentencing regarding “Finist the Bright Falcon” has to do more with her opposition to the Russia-Ukraine war and less with the play’s message.
Justifying terrorism is a criminal offense in Russia and is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have repeatedly denied accusations of propagating terrorism since their arrest and throughout their seven-week trial.
At the opening of the trial last month, Berkovich said, “I staged the performance to prevent terrorism,” adding that she had “nothing but condemnation and disgust” towards terrorists, Reuters reported. Petriychuk echoed similar sentiments, saying that she wrote the play in order to prevent incidents such as those depicted in the play, according to The Associated Press.
Their lawyers noted in court that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, which is Russia’s most prestigious national theater award. The play was also reportedly read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia in 2019 and was praised by Russia’s state penitentiary service.
Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, wrote on X/Twitter that the sentence was based on “utterly absurd” charges and “in an unfair trial that is blatant retaliation against Berkovich for speaking out against Russia’s war on Ukraine.” She added that the verdict is “disgraceful and should be annulled,” and that Berkovich and Petriychuk “should be freed immediately.”
More than 16,000 people signed an open letter in support of Petriychuk and Berkovich that insisted the play “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment.” A number of Russian actors, directors, and journalists also signed affidavits that called on the court to release the pair from custody pending their trial but to no avail, Reuters reported.
Defense lawyer Ksenia Karpinskaya said on Monday she will appeal the court’s verdict, which she called a “cruel sentence.”
The post Russian Court Sentences Playwright, Jewish Theater Director to Prison for ‘Justifying Terrorism’ in Award-Winning Play first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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