Two prominent figures in Russian theater have been sentenced to six years in prison each for “justifying terrorism”, a Reuters reporter who was in court said, in a landmark trial that tested the limits of artistic freedom in Russia.

Director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petrychuk were arrested last May for their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon,” which tells the story of Russian women who married Islamic State fighters.

In the play in question, which tells the story of young Russian women who fell in love with members of ISIS through mail, prosecutors saw the justification of terrorism – and radical feminism at the same time. Berkowitz and Petrychuk insisted that the play, instead, warned women about the danger of being recruited.

The play “Finist, the brave falcon” won the “Golden Mask” theater award in 2022.

However, the two personalities of the Russian theater were brought to justice after a complaint. The whistleblower’s name is unknown to the public, but he nevertheless appeared in court as a witness (and spoke via audio link with a distorted voice from an adjacent room under the pseudonym “Nikita”).

In court “Nikita” was asked why he did not express his complaints about the work once it was read in front of the public and was present at its reading and the discussion in which it took place, but went to the police to complain. “There would be the possibility of being ridiculed or made to look foolish,” was his reply.