That's how far from rule of law...
The reports yesterday illustrating the distance Russia has to travel to rule of law pale beside the report in The New York Times today.After Dismissal of Jury, Judges Convict Russian
In the end, it was three professional judges who delivered a verdict in the trial of the former senator Igor V. Izmestiev, and they imposed the heaviest penalty allowed by law.
Accused of violent crimes in a politically freighted case, Mr. Izmestiev had pinned his hopes on the jury — a motley collection of workers, retirees and intellectuals who heard testimony in the case for around seven months. Watching the expressions of disbelief that flitted over jurors’ faces during witnesses’ testimony, his lawyer was convinced that the panel would acquit him, at least on some charges.
But the jury was dismissed earlier this year under questionable circumstances before it could deliver a verdict. On Tuesday, a second trial ended as his lawyer had predicted: the judges convicted Mr. Izmestiev and sentenced him to life in prison…
Jury trials, which were phased out by the Bolsheviks, were revived in the 1990s. But their number has remained tiny, roughly 600 of the more than 1 million criminal cases heard each year. The authorities have eliminated jury trials in cases where crimes like terrorism and espionage are charged, and new proposals would ban them in cases involving extremism. Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin went further this week, saying juries “are not effective” and suggesting that their use be limited to federal courts...
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Labels: judiciary, rule-of-law, Russia
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:22 AM
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