Russian court reduces sentences for playwright, director

A Russian court slightly reduced prison sentences Wednesday on a playwright and a theatre director convicted of "justifying terrorism" in a play.

Director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk were sentenced to six years in prison in July over a play about women marrying jihadists in Syria.

The sentences were reduced to five years and seven months for Berkovich and five years and 10 months for Petriychuk, according to an audio of the hearing published by the Moscow region military appeal court where it was held.

The women's arrest last year sent shock waves through Russia's artistic community, which has faced unprecedented pressure from the Kremlin since Russia sent troops to Ukraine.

Berkovich has written poems criticising Russia's military offensive in Ukraine and her supporters said they believed the court case could be linked to this.

Prosecutors charged the pair over their 2021 play "Finist, The Brave Falcon", about Russian women who were lured to marry Islamic State group militants in Syria and imprisoned upon returning to Russia. It was awarded two prestigious Golden Mask theatre awards.

The Kremlin has brought artistic institutions under tighter control since launching its Ukraine offensive in 2022. Many of Russia's prominent artistic figures have left the country.