Court overturns film director Kirill Serebrennikov's suspended sentence

A Moscow court overturned film director Kirill Serebrennikov's suspended sentence and cleared his criminal record.

"On March 28, 2022, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow considered a petition against director Kirill Serebrennikov to revoke the probation before the expiration of the probationary period. The stated requirements have been sustained,” the court said.

The court took into account the expiration of a half of the established probationary period, the full payment of the fine and compensation for damage. In addition, "the convict has not committed any violations during the period of his sentence,” the court added.

In June 2020, Serebrennikov, accused of fraud, was sentenced to three years on probation. Other defendants in the Seventh Studio case were also sentenced with probation:

• Yuri Itin — three years on probation,
• Alexei Malobrodsky — two years on probation.

The court ordered them to pay a fine of 129 million rubles under the lawsuit from the Ministry of Culture. They were found guilty in a criminal case on the embezzlement of funds allocated from the state budget for "Platform" theatrical project.

In February 2020, it became known that the Moscow authorities were not going to renew the contract with Serebrennikov. The Association of Theater Critics stood up for the director and urged the authorities to leave him as the artistic director of the Gogol Center. Serebrennikov was eventually forced to resign from the post.