Editorial Defends Juries

An editorial in the news daily Vedomosti criticized statements by Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office, that juries acquit too often and that the jury system should be changed to include more than one judge to preside with 12 jurors. The editorial asserts that less than one percent of Russian criminal cases are tried to juries, and that jury acquittal rates of around 20% in Russia are normal by European standards.
www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/2009/10/19/216649