JUSTICE IN BOLSHEVIK

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 89, 9 January 1919, Page 5

JUSTICE IN BOLSHEVIK

AMAZING SCENE FROM A TRIAL V A COURT WITHOUT LAW ■ _"To allintentsand purposes it is practically impossible anywhere in Russia, to. try a civil oase,'\says a writer in the New York "Globe." , "Misdemeanours and dimes all fall , wider'the'jurisdiction of the local Soviet, and very little time is . . wasted 'in-legal formality.' If a-man is • detected in the act ofistealing, ho will probably find himself facing a firinerequad within an hour."- A few months ngo, General Boiderev, formerly Bulgn'rian Minister of War,,' : commanded the Fifth Russian Army,.which defended the ; positions- -north and; sonth : of- Dvinsk. ■■'~'When: ,t he Bolshevik- revolution- over- - threw .Kerensky, Krylenko was named to succeed General Boiderev ■asiommander- . ; in-chief . of .the' Russian' armies in the field. . Boiderev ; refused to . ..command and IvTylenkb issued a decree .to ; the, effect', that. officers Tefusin? ,t6 obey •the orders of-the new Bolshevik regime, issued through Krylenko, would be guilty . ,-of high treason..- General , Boiderev de- : liberately disobeyed Krylenko'iS orders. . . ..".'.. ~ . .Trial of .BoiderevT v ''■■■'". . .. -The-. "Globs" describes the , climax, of ; BoMerev's trial:-' , IV ''■■.'■"'■' "...','' .' .. ."Citizen Boiderev,stand up! ■ ■''' ;: ,■' . • 'Tlife Revolutionary Tribunal, deriving ' its powers from the ■ Droletafiat' 'of 'new: free Russia. , 'hereby 'finds yon guiltv ; of. . high .-treason and sentences you to tWee ' ;■ Tears','imprisonment at hnrd labour." ■ '-. ■ ' A moment of tense silence "was .by >a. woman's so , " .•..'Shn wns a 'relative .of the prisoner. ■ The jury heard tTio-'w"->n\an's::weepimr -sml nijnoared'nricomfpTtablo. The crowd heard and grew angry with the Coiirt.: The woman matliv ?evfiral atr.nmntsito: recover control, of herr. .■6°lf.-. -Finally; she 'blurted out. '• ..-ehome, is.this revolutionary justirp?". ■■'. ' ..;..-.The crowd took up the cries . shame, this trial is mockerylfhis cou'rt a .. travesty,".; Thp provident of flip court,'n . . .-roughly drp=*wl rroV «finMli<rpnt at> pearance, Tapped' loudly with his gavel .and tinkled a little bell, ■onllinp loudly. for order.. The 'crowd'paw , no utteipKo" to him. . The cries grew louder. The ■crowd became a mob. . The derisive yells, now.injixed , with, bitter, vicious -.cniws, went on unchecked. -The mob rapidly approncW. a etnf-n of fnmv. .The rireji- . .ripntrheld -up..-both hand?, but could not ' ■ compel silence. The crowd yelled' louder. A lull in the din finally came. The pre- . sident. threatened- the mob with ejection at the point of the bayonet, unless sile'nco '. wprn instnntaneously.Testnred. '■<'>'<• ' ' . ,The forty or'fifty spectators, now'an infuriated rabble, .swent toward the rostrum. intent, on- murder. ■■ Chair's and .tables were flung, aside. ! Wild yells echoed, throughout the.palace.) Men and 'women trampled on each 'other. Two or were drawn. The president of the Tribunal with the jury annpnjred ■ badly frightened, although, all held, firm.. i The president.pressed.a push button of ' -on ."iectr'o.bell:' Every .doorwns. flung .'.open,, and soldiers rushed in,'.bayonets . .'were, already fixed on their- rifles.■- The rattle and map of breech-bolts its live :'. cartridges were jammed home meantTiusin'ess. The mob heard the rattle-and . Knew its meaning from .past experience. ..That which an instant, before was madness of anger .'was now. the frenzy of-fear. : Women screamed and fainted. Men made . ■ ;■. wild rush for the doors. Every- 1 exit, was blocked by groups of soldiers with ' bayonets, at ready. ' ■ : ■ ■ < ':■■.■ .Like, frightened sheep,: the rioters cow- , ered together, in the centre of:the court for. means, of escapet.which did not exist.- Every where, that frantic eyes ■ .. . royed they saw bayonets and'the bright V-t'pl rims of: rifle : muzzles," The mob> ;felt fear and;stood . in •' trembling; < -It knew that in each .of these two score rifles were' five-.live bultets... Most of. . the men had an elementary knowledge:of • "'."firearms," «nd they knew that the boit : action which'loaded, the rifles, the" sound of'which had been'audibly, to ■ all above .' ;tho din; .had at- the..same -time, cocked-. -. the hammer. ' But of' all, every ■ epldier appeared: ready, and, even. anxious to .-hoot, if one could judge from'.Hie-car--.essing-way they fingered-,the triggers'.' ; Prayers and loud- appeals.-for'-mercy,-had quickly replaced the curses, arid!..cries tor blood.. .This ,is. not a- psychological study of fear.. It is simply a description . of a scene. .'• . . . ■ '■ .- • '.' ■V But X know ,now' what fear, is because I was, caught in that mad rush and etood. in the outer rim of that crowd,with;the ," of-a.rifle less than a foot from the pit of my etomach, with an angry, , cursing soldier, fingering the trigger. -• . "Comrades, citizens, you have forgotten . yourselves," said the president of the ' Court, . . - ..' -. , .■.(.■•■.- •'■■-•■. ■ 'All eyes turned toward him. He was no longer the .oppressor but the deliverer. -■-. He ordered the' soldiers to'march off the.prisoner the ringleader of the-disturbance.. When the. crowd found-that it was not going to be'shot • down in cold blood, it commenced a moro rational defence against' the Court's decision, : and. appeared somewhat embar- : Tessed for its display of feeling. Fifteen or twenty-men we're arrested and searched. ■'' Those on whom arnie were -found ■ wore'sent to tho Peter and Paul fortress. The others- were released and permitted • to return to the'court room. ■'■ ;The'above description is .more'.or.' , less typical of the scenes one can witness .'in. .revolutionary Russia.almost every.day.if he Roes-looking for them. Through;.the very nature of .the. political turnover, life in Eussia is at the best uncertain. Hardly a day passes. when this Revolutionary • Tribunal is in session that there dpe3:not ■ occur eome such incident. ~'. ■''... . I ' The Soviet Court. ' There is something 6ingularly consistent in the fact that,'this Court, where a trial is likely to be rather a legal riot than dry judicial, procedure, sits in-a small ballroom of the new palace.of the Grand Duke Nicholas, the former com-mander-in-chief of the : Euseian , Army. Some fine paintings formerly hung on the walls, but ths decorations were torn down, along with great piecee of plastering. This was further to democratise the first Court of- Justice of EnssiVs revolutionary, proletariat, " . .. •. .. , ~-.- Five, or.-,six. rows of -bare, i backless ■' wcaden benches: will accommodate one hundred spectatore;: Smoking is permitted, and— ..' •...'■' -. - - ,-■ ■, After -half :'.an. hoiir'e session tho air ■is blue and the president and prisoner, who are hardly, twenty feet away,, are almost blurred outlines.- A press table / occupies a prominent position near the jury 3 table. ■■ The. Ilussian journalists al- ' ready have begun to .refer to themselves as the fourth estate. One , hears frequent remarks which indicate that as a cluss they have begun' a ' tardy study of tho French Revolution. The press correspondents in the Court passed a resolution that -they would -not smoke- while sitting at the press table. ' - ■■ . The court consists of six men, three workmen, two soldiers, and a sailor,' be-sides-ttho; president, -who-'votes' only in the event ..'of "a deadlock, although the president,, because of his superior ediicd- '. tionj' can "usually ewing the •verdict tho . way he wishes it to go. The president with hie juryi sits, on a low platform behind a long, straig-ht , table made, from Tough- planks-and-covered with cheap, red cotton cloth;' Six: or.'eight, candles affixed'to the table-with-melted tallow, or stuck into the necks of bottles, furnish light, for owing to the coal 'Shortage in -Petrograd the electric light'plants operate only between 7.30 in the' evening and midnight;'-- .-;■■.•;■• v: ■ Justice in this revolutionary court is ■ highly "primitive. A .majority- decision rules. The theory ■ is . that these workmen- and ■sbldiers > \jill , hear the evidence and trust their consciences' to render a just decision, regardless : 'of" legal , formalities. ■> There. ■ are no lawyers, .nor'-law booke; nor court proceedings.' It is'all so 'simple. Is the man guilt}-, yes or no His own, word on the question very often suffices. , ■ Cross-examination is conducted by the president. -Two witnesses • for the prosecution and two for tho defence are" all that are allowed. It is essentially a court for 'trying political crimes, "which term,: as broadly construed by the Soviet, includes any activities seeking to undermine the power of the Soviet-regime. .-;. • ' My first vieit tp the Revolutionary Tribunal was on the day of General Bolderev's trial. After the crowd had become quiet, I asked my interpreter. ' if he thought it possible that I could have a talk with the president of the court. The Interpreter said he would write a note

r - to him in Russian. .The note simply "■ stated that I was an American correspondent and requested an interview. The president looked lover toward us and smiled, and then wrote ft note. An armed soldier brought the note to us across : the court-room and handed it to my interpreter. He handed it to me. It was written in• perfectly good English. The. . president invited me'to the private juryroom after the adjournment of the court \ to "have a cup-qf ; tea and talk it over." - After I hnd -met tho o.ther members of the court and said to them a few words on America's interest in the welfare of ' the Russian people! the, president, whose } name was Zurin, which is incidentally f not 'his real name, . but an alias, 1 adopted after his escape from an exile , village in , Siberia, took ' me to his ' private living-room and office, which f was formerly the study of .the Grand 1 Duko Nicholas. All of the furniture ex- ' cept a beautifully inlaid desk and two ' or three carved chairs had been moved ' to the top' of the house, where it ! was stored in f a'eant rooms, Zurin ex- ' plaining that Soviet simplicity' had no 1 patience . irith ' the trappings of royalty. ' Zurin's army, cot-bed stood on the other 1 side of the room. It was conspicuous by' ' tho absence of either eheets or counterpane, ■ .-'':■ .'■" ■•'.■. ■ ■ 'Judge an Ex-Paperhanger. The correspondent asked Zurin where, ■he had learned to speAk English, and discovered that tho astounding president of the Revolutionary Tribunal had spent . five of his thirty years as a paperhanser in New. York City. His 'views on America were father more, complimentary than those , attributed to' Trotsky, who. also spent a part of his So'cialist apprenticev l ship in this'county. ■ : . Zurin summed iip present-day Soviet ideas on courts of justice and law in the - following ' In tho olden davs, .when we had formal -courts of justice, with black-gowned lawyers, justice was all one-sided. Then a skilful lawyer could make black seem white, and turn -.wood.,into gold. They could..dig anything out of law books. The .rich and' the especially, favoured from, .the point.of. view.of -existing , .social conditions were always right in the eyes . '.of ;.the.' court. .If, we, followed these old precedents there would be nothing ■ new, arid to have new laws which assure;justice .to all. is one of the main desires in the minds of those isUDporting a revolution;'ary. culture. Tp-day our. system is nothing more than the combined conscientiousness: of seven men. If we. think, a jnah .'guilty of crtme against thp people as a whole,-wo punish him.. If b» is innocent, he is released. In time there ;will. be biiilt up, a new code of laws covering property rights as well as'an extensive penal code. We have a commission of Socialist laifrers at work'on this'now. ■'■.■,!'"