history · 31 December 1938 · 86 years ago
The Supreme Court of the USSR ruled that cases brought under Article 58 of the Kirov Law had to demonstrate the intent to commit counter-revolutionary or terrorist crime. This ruling went some way into restricting the activities of various kangaroo courts which had been using the law as virtual unrestricted power to kill anyone who came into their hands. During the course of 1939 a number of public trials were held of State Security officials, accused of fabricating evidence and perverting the course of justice.
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