Zhenya Berkovich Sent to Punishment Cell for the Third Time Over “Minor Violations.” She Is Being Denied Necessary Medication Because the Doctor Is on Vacation

Zhenya Berkovich has been sent to a punishment cell for the third time over “minor violations.” She is not being given the medication she needs because the doctor is on vacation

Director and poet Zhenya Berkovich, who is serving her sentence at IK-3 “Pribrezhny,” has been in a punishment cell since September 16, Novaya Gazeta has learned.

This is already her third disciplinary penalty. This time she was sent to the punishment cell for 15 days.

A major concern, the outlet notes, is that Berkovich is being held in the punishment cell without the medication necessary for her health: the doctor who is supposed to write the prescription is on vacation, the colony explains.

🔵In July 2024, Zhenya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk were sentenced to six years in a penal colony in the case over “justifying terrorism” because of the play “Finist the Bright Falcon,” a production about the fates of women recruited by ISIS. In 2022, the play won two Golden Mask awards.

🔵Later, the court slightly reduced the sentences: Berkovich’s sentence was reduced by five months, to five years and seven months of imprisonment. Petriychuk’s was reduced by two months, to five years and ten months.

🔵On Saturday, on CNN, Novaya Gazeta co-founder Dmitry Muratov called on the international community to seek the release of Russian political prisoners, including Berkovich and Petriychuk.

🩷 Subscribe — @tvrain