Teodor Currentzis and Gidon Kremer condemn the arrest on fraud charges that many see as politically motivated.

“Shame,” yelled protestors outside the courtroom in Moscow where Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov was placed under house arrest ahead of a trial for fraud. The director has been accused of embezzling 68 million roubles of government money, some of which had been slated for a play that investigators are saying was not produced. Serebrennikov has denied the charges. “I am an honest man,” he told the court, “I have nothing apart from Russia and work in Russian culture.”

Many see the arrest of the director – who has been outspoken about censorship in the arts – following three months of raids, as politically motivated and are concerned it is part of a wider attack on artists ahead of the Russian presidential election that will take place in March next year.

A total of 34 Russian artists, including the director of the Bolshoi theatre, offered to guarantee Serebrennikov’s bail. But while Serebrennikov’s lawyer argued that the director was not a flight risk, the judge ruled that there was a risk he would seek to destroy evidence or influence witnesses.

The arrest follows...