Russia’s Potemkin Juries

This is unbelievable:

Moscow government wants to hand pick juries MOSCOW (AP) – Moscow’s city government is pushing for federal legislation to give major Russian cities the authority to hand pick juries for trials, officials and lawyers said Friday. The proposal is the latest indication that the authority and independence of juries in Russia is eroding, less than 20 years after the restoration of jury trials. It was unclear how the proposal would fare if parliament takes it up. The proposal is “a profanity on the very idea of jurors,” defense lawyer Viktor Parshutkin said.

An idea this brilliant could only come from the inimitable mind of Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov.