Show trial
The term show trial is most commonly used to describe a type of public trial in which the guilt of an accused has already been decided, and the only goal of the trial is to present the accusation and the verdict to the public.
Typically, show trials were used to deal with the political opponents of the current government or of the Church.
Moscow Trials
The most flagrant cases were the Moscow Trials of the Great Purge time period of the Soviet Union. Not only the guilt of the defendants was predefined, the whole processes were frame-ups, the opinion of the public was formed by massive campaigns in newspapers and at numerous meetings. The trials themselves were carefully staged. If a defendant refused to "cooperate", i.e., to admit a guilt, mostly fabricated, he was not put on trial, but excuted nevertheless. These set an example for show trials in all communist states.
The first solid evidence of what really happened during the Moscow Trials was presented to the West by the Dewey Commission. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, more information became available.
Related articles
This article is a stub. You can help BambooWeb by .
