No Jury, No Problem
Last Friday the State Duma passed the first reading of a law that would alter how Russian courts prosecute terrorism cases. The law, “On the making changes to individual legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the question of combating terrorism,” essentially looks to amend five statutes in the Russian criminal code to give tougher sentences to crimes committed by “terrorists.” But the stiffing of sentences is not all. The law’s authors, Vladimir Vasilev, the chair of the Duma Committee for Security, and his deputy Mikhail Grishankov, both United Russia members, also want to change Article 30 of the criminal code to allow the removal of juries in trials that not only deal with terrorism but “hostage taking, mass disorder, rebellion, espionage, sabotage, unlawfully armed organizations, high treason, violent seizure of state power.” The main argument for the removal of juries is that “in the southern regions of Russia cases ..read more
