Russian playwright gets prison for 'justifying terrorism'
A Russian military court on July 15 convicted a playwright and a theater director and sentenced them each to six years in prison over a play that was found to "justify terrorism." The judge found writer Svetlana Petriychuk and director Yevgeniya Berkovich, who had been in pre-trial detention since May 2023, guilty under Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code. This provision makes the offense of "justifying terrorism" punishable by up to seven years imprisonment.
The basis for the prosecution was the play Finist the Brave Falcon. Its plot draws inspiration from the plight of Russian women who went to Syria in the mid-2010s to marry Islamist fighters and were convicted upon return to their home country. Berkovich and Petrychuk repeatedly stated that their play was intended to warn aainst of terrorism and not to justify it.
According to local media, the charges were based on contradictory statements by partially anonymous witnesses. After the prosecutor claimed the witnesses were threatened on social media, the judge conducted the interrogation of the accused and delivered the verdict behind closed doors. Journalists were barred from the courtroom from June 13 onwards.
In the eyes of the defense and human rights organizations, the real reason for the prosecution was retribution against the pair for their outspoken opposition to the war in Ukraine. Berkovic had published poems criticizing the war. Rachel Denber, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, stated on Twitter that the duo were convicted on "utterly absurd charges, in an unfair trial that is blatant retaliation against Berkovich for speaking out against Russia's war on Ukraine." Berkovich and Petriychuk said they will appeal the verdict.
The sentence comes amid Russia/s increasing persecution of cultural figures since the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
From Jurist, July 9. Used with permission.
See our last report on the crackdown on dissent in Russia.
Russian court sentences journalist in absentia
A Moscow court on July 15 sentenced Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen in absentia to eight years in prison under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code over charges of spreading "false information" on the Russian armed forces. The court also banned Gessen from online activity for four years. Gessen, who lives in the US, holds dual US-Russian citizenship and writes frequenty for The New Yorker. (Jurist)
Another rights activist imprisoned in Russia
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a press release July 26 stating that Russia must release activist Alexey Sokolov from detention and drop all charges against him. Sokolov was detained for posting "extremist symbols" on his Telegram channel and charged under Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code. Sokolov had posted the Facebook logo on his channel after the Russian government banned Meta. Sokolov is a human rights advocate who operates the NGO Legal Basis (Pravovaya Osnova). (Jurist)
US-Russia prisoner swap
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and several other high-profile detainees were released into US custody Aug. 1 in the largest prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War. The White House identified the four nationals or residents among the 16. In addition to Gershkovich and Whelan, they included RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and revered Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has permanent US residency.
As part of the prisoner swap, eight Russians will be returning home. Three will be released from U.S. prisons: hacker ladislav Klyushin, intelligence operative Vadim Konoshchenok and credit-card Roman Seleznev. ive others will be released from Germany, Norway, Poland and Slovenia. German authorities have agreed to release Vadim Krasikov, a suspected Russian state assassin who was serving a life sentence for the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgia citizen of Chechen origin.
President Joe Biden lauded the swap, which was staged at Turkey's Ankara airport, as a "feat of diplomacy." (Jurist, NPR)
One American not released in the prisoner swap with Russia is teacher Marc Fogel, who was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony in 2022. He was arrested in 2021 at a Moscow airport for carrying medically prescribed marijuana. (PBS)
Russian dissident says he was traded against his will
Ilya Yashin, one of the Russian dissidents traded to the West in this week's prisoner exchange, said Aug. 2 that he did not want his freedom if it meant leaving his country.
“I will never make peace with the role of an emigrant," Yashin said at a news conference with other newly freed Russians in Bonn, Germany.
He also protested the terms of the swap deal: "In exchange for the release of one murderer, 16 innocent people who committed no crimes were released. This is a difficult dilemma, including because it certainly motivates Putin to take new hostages." (NYT, PBS)
Russian dissident artist released as part of prisoner swap
Sasha Skochilenko, an artist from St Petersburg who was arrested in April 2022 for protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was among 16 US and German citizens and Russian dissidents released to the West on Thursday Aug. 1 in an historic prisoner swap in which the Kremlin secured the release of eight of its assets, among them an accused assassin. (The Art Newspaper)
HRW: 'tripwires for civil society' in Russia since 2020
UN reports continued deterioration of human rights in Russia
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has highlighted the ongoing deterioration of human rights in Russia, in a report published Sept. 17. The report accuses the Russian government of engaging in "systematic human rights abuses" as part of a "government strategy to control all spheres of life, both public and private, and to suppress dissent towards its aggressive foreign policy of waging war." (Jurist)