A Russian court sentenced a playwright and a theater director each to six years in prison on Monday (July 8) for "justifying terrorism," concluding a trial that rights campaigners had said demonstrated Russia's intolerance of artistic freedom. - REUTERS
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00:00A Russian director and playwright each received a six-year prison sentence on Monday for quote
00:06justifying terrorism.
00:08Rights campaigners have said the trial demonstrated Russia's intolerance of artistic freedom.
00:14Director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petrichuk were arrested in May of 2023 over
00:20their production of a play about Russian women who marry Islamic state fighters.
00:26At the start of the trial in late May, the women said they had staged the play because
00:30they oppose terrorism rather than support it.
00:34The seven-week trial was the most prominent prosecution of Russian cultural figures over
00:39their content since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in 2022.
00:44Both women denied guilt.
00:48As a police truck left court, people chanted the women's names.
00:53Of course, we will appeal this verdict, although there's little hope.
01:00Defense lawyer Ksenia Karpinskaya told supporters.