Police have found the body of missing Jewish artist and Kremlin critic Anna Michaltschuk.
Michaltschuk, who reportedly suffered from depression, was found in a lock of the Spree River in Berlin. Police say suicide is suspected; the results of an autopsy will be released next week.
The artist was reported missing by her husband, philosopher Michail Ryklin, on March 21, when she did not return hours after saying she was going shopping.
Suspicion of foul play circulated because of anonymous threats against her on the Internet related to her participation in an exhibit some years ago that criticized the Russian Orthodox Church.
Michaltschuk and Ryklin, both outspoken critics of outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin, had moved to Berlin last November.
In 2003, Mikhalchuk had been tried and acquitted in Moscow on charges of “insulting the religious feelings of the Russian people” in connection with the exhibit “Attention, Religion.” The exhibit was destroyed, reportedly by right-wing nationalists.
Ryklin wrote a book about the anti-Semitic behavior of prosecutors and the public during the trial.
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