From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Secret trial
Secret trial
A secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public, Secret trials have been a characteristic of almost
nor generally reported in the news, especially any in-tri- every dictatorship of the modern era, but even in demo-
al proceedings. Generally no official record of the case or cratic regimes secret trials have taken place, usually cit-
the judge’s verdict is made available. Often there is no in- ed by state authorities as necessary for the same reason
dictment. The accused is usually not able to obtain the as those in dictatorships - national security. Although
counsel of an attorney or confront witnesses for the pros- the Great Purges in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin
ecution, and the proceedings are characterized by a per- are best remembered for the Moscow Trials, show trials
ceived miscarriage of justice to the benefit of the ruling in which the court became a parody of justice, most of
powers of the society. the victims of the Terror were tried in secret. Mikhail
In the English-speaking world, one of the most noto- Tukhachevsky and his fellow Red Army officers were
rious secret courts was the Star Chamber as it was used tried in secret by a military tribunal, and their executions
under Charles I in the early 17th century. The abuses of were announced only after the fact. The presiding judge
the Star Chamber were one of the rallying points of the of the Moscow Trials, Vasili Ulrikh, also presided over
opposition that organized around Oliver Cromwell, and large numbers of secret trials lasting only a few minutes,
ultimately resulted in the execution of the deposed king. in which he would quickly speak his way through a pre-
The term "star chamber" became a generalized term for formulated charge and verdict.
a court that was accountable to no one (except the chief
executive) and was used to suppress political dissent or
eliminate the enemies of the regime.
External links
"Secret evidence" JUSTICE report, June 2009.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Secret_trial&oldid=460392891"
Categories:
• Informal legal terms
• Human rights abuses
• Secrecy
• Types of trials
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