St. Petersburg Trial.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 October 1907, Page 11

St. Petersburg Trial.

Judgment was delivered on August 29 at St. : Petersburg by' the court-martial which th'f'iw* 3 P xn°-1 S i } cc " s . °f plotting against the isar. JNikitcnko Simavsmy, alias Purkiii, and Naumoff were found guilty of organising an . attempt upon the life of the Emperor, and were sentenced to death'by hanging Of four others'who were found guilty of organising a ; plot ■to overthrow the existing form of government,, threo were sen tenced to eight years 'and one to four years' penal, soryitudo. ,Five of tire"prisoners convicted of having supported the conspiracy were condemned to banishment and loss of all-civil, rights, while six; were acquitted, including mM. Fcdossieff, tho lawyer; and his wife. - . .. The- persons sentenced to penal servitude for plotting against the Tsar include the r-irl Anna Pighit. Among those sentenced to lifelong oxile.in Siberia aro four women including Mdlle. Prokoffieva and Mdllo. Emme Counsiel, for. the defence to the ond maintained the non-existence 'of a plot. Distressing scenes occurred in court among the relatives of the condemned when the" sentences were read out. . - Laffan's correspondent says:—Tho verdict was expected 011 ail sides, although no one believes in tho. genuineness of the plot, and tho general opinion is that a great' miscarriage of justice has taken place. It is Btatcd, too, that the severity ,t the sentences is due to political exigencies, \nd the desire to create a loyalist rcaotioa among the populaco.