BERLIN (AP) — Two German theater figures are calling on Russian authorities to drop a criminal investigation of a Russian director who has been put under house arrest for allegedly embezzling government funds.

German theater director Thomas Ostermeier and playwright Marius von Mayenburg are circulating a petition on behalf of Krill Serebrennikov, the Russian theater and film director who has maintained his innocence.

They also appealed to the German government on Sunday "to ensure that Serebrennikov doesn't become the victim of a politically motivated defamation of character."

The petition has been signed by Australian actress Cate Blanchett and German film director Volker Schloendorff among others.

Serebrennikov's sold-out productions have been a key part of Moscow's theater scene for years. In September, he was to direct an opera in Stuttgart, Germany.