INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian theater director Yevgenia Berkovich on Monday spoke out in court against remaining in pre-trial detention
I believe that extending it and keeping me in custody is unjust, wrong, and should not be done..
Your Honor, I am involved with theater and it is customary for us to rehearse
I rehearsed a light, witty speech for a long time, but I saw my family for the first time in two months and realized that there is nothing
I will speak emotionally, but briefly...We are in the preliminary investigation phase
What is an investigation? There has probably been some kind of crime committed, and there is something not established, something mysterious
alone the fact that I'm absolutely certain no crime was committed.An unidentified person wrote a play
Shakespeare wrote many plays and there is controversy about them, too
In 2016-2017, there was a TV series about women being recruited to ISIS in the Russian Federation
This was discussed on the national state channels in the context of the fight against and prevention of terrorism
This is a major topic for both government agencies and ordinary citizens
I've been hearing about this topic for the last 20 years..
I have two daughters, one is 17, the other is 19
There are real women, all kinds of women, who go to Syria for all kinds of reasons
Sometimes they die there, sometimes they kill someone, sometimes not
Or they come back here and go to prison
Do we have to put these women in jail? Yes, often we do
in Russia and around the world
It would be strange if the trial was shown as very sweet and gentle.There is one thought, one and only thought: this happens, evil happens,
Complicity in crime, unfortunately, also happens
It's impossible to talk about it without talking about it
I will say one thing about the wonderful expert assessment, because to be honest, it's not the most pleasant topic of conversation
Nothing at all! Literally nothing! Except for the interrogation of two witnesses, both of whom said that there was a beautiful play and that
everything about the play was fine.So that you understand, in this most remarkable expert assessment we are charged with two things
A gesture like this [Berkovich points her index finger upwards]
There are a lot of gestures, and one of them is like this
The instructions are: put the scarf on your head, open your mouth, tie the ends under your chin
Well, the instruction for wearing a headscarf in the Orthodox Church is about the same
I'm quoting verbatim.On May 4 we were confronted with this extensive investigation into this inhumanly complicated and convoluted case
The duty officer says, "Berkovich, don't turn my prison into a kindergarten." Yesterday he said it for some reason
Nothing has happened in two months
As one great Russian writer said, for every outrage there must be some decency
In this case not a single new document has appeared with which we could somehow familiarize ourselves, except for the mysterious
We know this person and we know that he has nothing to do with this project
We didn't talk to the investigator even once, not a single piece of paper was added
In my profession, I can't imagine inviting an audience to a theater, even for free, to a show for moms and dads, with no sets, and a food
Because that's my job, I'm a director..
Generally speaking, I've always assumed that an investigator's job is to investigate
In the meantime, we have been in prison for two months
I have two children on the outside, one is a minor, the other is an adult with fairly serious mental health problems
Your Honor, please to look at the expert assessment that we attached
I'd like to ask my defense attorney to read a little bit of it, because it's important.Judge: I understand, thank you
released completely because that is the just and merciful and safe thing to do
Just being able to hug my children who are literally going crazy
they would put Mom in jail
They know what happens when Mom is in jail
They've spent most of their lives in an orphanage
Petriychuk, the judge ruled to extend the two women's detention until Sept
