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show trial

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Also known as staged trial, sham trial

public trial in which the guilt of the defendant is predetermined

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
spectacle
Image
Proces metropolity weniamina.jpg
Has use
propaganda
Show 5 more facts
Commons category
Show trials
topic's main category
Category:Show trials
on focus list of Wikimedia project
WikiProject Human rights
does not have characteristic
presumption of innocence
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

People's Court trial of Adolf Reichwein, Nazi Germany, 1944

A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. It is a type of political trial. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a warning to other would-be dissidents or transgressors.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “show trial” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.