TRIAL BY JURY IN RUSSIA.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2232, 13 May 1880, Page 3

TRIAL BY JURY IN RUSSIA.

Trial, by jury in St. Petersburg leads to extraordinary results. Last autumn'a postman was acquitted who had ,no doubt stolen hundreds of letters, and the decision was endorsed by the newspapers, for no other reason than that tlie -prisoner had received but a small salary. Now we read of a post-office official going scot free who had stolen a letter containing eight thousand two hundred roubles, and afterwards, by forgeries, attempting to conceal the robbery;—On June' 23 of last l year the prisoner, an “honorary citizen,”, appropriated tlie packet of roubles. ' Two days after ,he quitted his employment, r and then devoted himself to a life of pleasure which -was cut short by liis arrest, tho embezzlement: and , forgeries - having been , discovered. jA considerable portion of the spoil was found upon him in-the shape of various public securities. On appearing at the Bar he urged the naive excuse that he had “suddenly been seized with an uncontrollable desire ‘ to live ’ (as he said) if but for one day only, and under the possession of this impulse had quite unconsciously taken and made use of the eight thousand two hundred roubles.” Such ingeniousness, crowned by a promise to do his best to restore the ,sihns spent, proving too in itch for the feelings of the jurymen, he was at once acquitted. In Russia fraud is, unhappily, so frequent "by oh a large scale,, wherejtho criminals are men of importance, that it is naturally judgedjjinconveninet to : deal hardly with smaller offenders. !