Angry protests as Russian court puts theatre director under house arrest

Kirill Serebrennikov is accused of embezzling £900,000, but supporters say he is victim of crackdown on dissent

Hundreds of people gathered in central Moscow to protest outside a courtroom as a prominent Russian theatre director was placed under house arrest before a fraud trial that his supporters say is politically motivated.

Kirill Serebrennikov’s lawyer argued on Wednesday that his client should be released on bail, but the judge ruled there was a risk he would seek to influence other witnesses or destroy evidence.

“I am an honest man,” Serebrennikov, who denies the charges, told the court. “I have nothing apart from Russia and work in Russian culture.”

The arrest of the avant garde director on Tuesday, amid accusations he embezzled 68m roubles (£900,000), sent shockwaves through Russia’s artistic community and has raised fears of a crackdown on cultural freedoms

“I am upset, angry and depressed,” Irina Prokhorova, a prominent editor and publisher, told reporters after the judge’s decision. “This is reminiscent of the sad examples from our past. It’s an obvious message to creative people and intellectual society: this is what will happen to everyone who does not submit.”

There were chaotic scenes earlier on Wednesday at Moscow’s Basmanny court as journalists and Serebrennikov supporters tried to gain access to the hearing. Shouts of “freedom” and “shame” by protesters outside the building floated into the courtroom, making much of the proceedings inaudible.

Police arrested several demonstrators, including Margarita Solomonitsa, who was holding a sign outside the courtroom that read: “Give us our director back.” She was led away by police officers as she was speaking to journalists. “I have great respect for Kirill Serebrennikov and am sure he is a very honest person,” Solomonitsa said before she was detained. “What is happening to him is outside the law.”

Serebrennikov said he should be granted bail because he had cooperated fully with the police investigation, which has been under way for months. A total of 34 prominent Russian directors, artists and singers, including the director of Russia’s Bolshoi theatre, pledged they would guarantee Serebrennikov’s bail payment.

But the judge sided with the prosecutors, ruling Serebrennikov should stay under house arrest until 19 October. The director will only be able to attend rehearsals with the permission of investigators.

The charges in the case relate to a period between 2011 and 2014 when a theatre studio led by Serebrennikov received significant government funding. Investigators have alleged he was part of a criminal group that stole the money.

Serebrennikov dismissed the allegations on Wednesday. “We did a big and bright project for the country, for the motherland, that was famous all over the world and became a starting platform for many young artists,” he said.

Leading figures in Russia’s cultural world have said the charges are politically motivated, fuelled by conservative anger at the Gogol Centre, Serebrennikov’s progressive theatre in Moscow, which attracts a devoted liberal audience. Since its foundation, the Gogol Centre has tackled themes including the role of religion, high-level corruption and sexuality in a series of critically acclaimed productions.

The Russian culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, described Serebrennikov’s situation on Wednesday as “sad” and “deeply regrettable”, according to the news agency Interfax.

The criminal investigation in which Serebrennikov has become entangled shows no sign of ending. Several former colleagues of the director have also been detained. Police said late on Tuesday they had issued an arrest warrant for Ekaterina Voronova, a producer who worked with Serebrennikov on a staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Voronova’s current whereabouts is unknown.

Russian media reported on Wednesday that the shooting of Summer, a film directed by Serebrennikov about the Soviet rock star Viktor Tsoi, had been indefinitely suspended. It is not clear whether Small Tragedies, a Serebrennikov play due to premiere at the Gogol Centre next month, will go ahead.

Nikita Kukushkin, an actor at the Gogol Centre who attended the hearing, said the theatre would try to work as normal. “If Kirill Serebrennikov was here he would tell us to rehearse,” he said.

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