The history of justice is full of drama and prejudice, and many lawsuits shocked the whole world in due time. Contemporaries closely followed the course of high-profile trials, and each of them can become the basis of a fascinating detective story. And today, turning over the pages of bygone years, we plunge into the mysterious, fascinating, and sometimes even tragic circumstances of the litigation of past centuries.
Undoubtedly, the most high-profile lawsuits are fraught with incredible and mysterious facts of history. Many of the accused did not deserve death, prolonged imprisonment or dishonor, and some criminals, on the contrary, escaped fair retaliation.
So, here are the most high-profile lawsuits in the world according to thebiggest.ru:
1
The trial of Socrates
In 399 BC, with the motivation for the corruption of youth and the desire to change faith, the father of world philosophy Socrates was arrested. He was even blamed for wanting to replace the pantheon of Greek gods. The wise and unyielding Socrates was objectionable to many.
Friends invited the philosopher to flee Athens, but he chose to stay and steadfastly accepted the death sentence. The thinker did not even try to convince the judges and jury of his innocence. He considered himself making excuses, thereby admitting his guilt.
Socrates, without waiting for execution, made a courageous decision and drank poison himself. By the way, about the most dangerous poisons known to man, thebiggest.ru has an interesting article.
2
Joan of Arc
What can you do for your people at 18? It turns out a lot, and even save their homeland. In world history, Jeanne has become a real symbol of the struggle for independence and freedom.
After a series of successful military operations against the British and the coronation of the French king, Jeanne was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the British. Charles VII could redeem her, but did not hit a finger on a finger to wrest his savior from the clutches of the enemy.
The court, chaired by Bishop Cauchon, accused Jeanne d'Arc of heresy and was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. The courageous nineteen-year-old girl steadfastly accepted the verdict.
During the trial of the French woman, gross violations of the law were committed. 25 years after the burning at an equally noisy process, she was acquitted, and in 1920 Jeanne was canonized.
3
Giordano Bruno
At the end of the 16th century, the Italian monk and astronomer Giordano Bruno suffered from the unfair trial of the Inquisition.
The Catholic Church could not allow the bold doctrine of the astronomer to spread about the structure of the Universe.
The process, which lasted 7 long years, accused Giordano of heresy and sentenced him to be burned at the stake. During the proceedings, the brave monk did not admit a single charge and did not deny his beliefs.
In 2000, the Cardinal of Italy called the burning of Giordano Bruno “a sad episode” in the history of the church, but justified the actions of the Inquisition.
It’s good that now no one is being persecuted for knowing about the structure of the world. And we can show you interesting articles about the largest stars in the Universe and about the largest planets, as well as about their large satellites.
4
Galileo Galilei
In 1633, a court of the Inquisition was held over the 70-year-old physicist Galileo Galilei. The main accusation made by the church to the scientist is Galileo's open support for the heliocentric theory of the structure of the world.
Three months after the arrest, a verdict was read out to the physicist and astronomer, where he was declared "strongly suspected of heresy." This wording saved the life, but Galileo had to retract his views.
After the verdict was announced, the physicist read the text of the abdication. The court sentenced him to house arrest. Galileo spent the rest of his life in prison at home, and his trial became a symbol of the confrontation between science and religion.
5
Salem process
Arrests and court in the New England city of Salem have become a manifestation of mass hysteria. The case of Massachusetts witches went down in history as one of the most significant witch hunts in history.
It all started with the fact that two girls Betty Parris and Abigail Williams began to show symptoms of the disease, the causes of which the doctors could not determine. Girls behaved strangely, screaming, taking strange poses, hiding from others. One of the doctors associated this behavior with the influence of witches.
From February 1692 to May 1693, 159 people were arrested in alleged proceedings. 31 people were convicted. Of these, 19 people were sentenced to death by hanging, 5 people died in prison, 1 woman was sold into slavery, and one of the accused was stoned during torture. One of the defendants managed to escape, and seven received a reprieve.
In 1697, they admitted that the court made a mistake, and all the defendants were acquitted.
6
Vereshchagin case
During the Patriotic War of 1812, the son of a merchant of the 2nd guild Mikhail Vereshchagin was accused of anti-Russian propaganda. Knowing three languages, he translated and printed Napoleon's speeches and some excerpts from his letters.
As such, there was no trial or sentencing. The Moscow mayor Rastopchin simply dealt with his political opponents, and Tsar Alexander I declined to investigate.
On September 2, 1812, an angry mob tore Mikhail Vereshchagin, this wild episode was included in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.
7
Case of the Club of Hearts
The trial, which is still the subject of controversy and is overgrown with new legends. The case was a real failure of the Russian jury trial institute.
Of the 47 scammers, 19 were fully justified, including the legendary Sonya Golden Handle. The remaining members of the "Club" were sentenced to short sentences.
In total, the process lasted 6 years, the best lawyers of Moscow acted as advocates. It was possible to prove only a few episodes of fraud in the total amount of about 300 thousand rubles.
8
"Multan case"
In 1892, for the first time in Russian history, a whole nation was judged. In total, there were ten people on the dock who were accused of cannibalism. But essentially the 100,000th people, its traditions and customs were judged.
According to investigators, the residents of the Udmurtian village of Multany sacrificed the poor Matyunin as a sacrifice to their pagan gods. The court convicted two times, but the third time, in 1896, acquitted the defendants.
Further proceedings showed that the murder was specially staged as a sacrifice rite in order to accuse the Udmurts and evict them from their lands.
9
Dreyfus affair
Another trumped-up lawsuit that shook all of Europe and reached the US coast. French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was accused of spying for Germany.
The court split the French society. The military, anti-Semites and nationalists called for the immediate condemnation and execution of Dreyfus, the socialists and radicals sided with the officer.
Only 12 years later, in 1906, Alfred was fully acquitted and restored to the army. The court found that there were a lot of forged documents denigrating the good name of the French officer.
10
The Beilis Case
The trial of the clerk of the Kiev brick factory Mendel Beilis was watched by the whole world. In one of the caves of Lukyanovka, the corpse of a 12-year-old boy was discovered, on the body of which there were 47 stab wounds.
The Jewel Beilis was accused of ritual murder. He was arrested on July 22, 1911, and released only on October 28, 1913. The Black-Hundred organizations actively supported the prosecution in order to raise a wave of anti-Semitic protests throughout Russia.
The real killer was never found. After the acquittal, Baileys and his family left for Palestine. The former citizen of the Russian Empire in the USA died, having managed to write a book of memoirs “My Suffering”.
11
Monkey process
In 1926, Tennessee opposed the 24-year-old school teacher, John Scopes. This court went down in history under the name "Monkey process."
Scopes was accused of violating Butler’s act, which forbade the teaching of Darwin's evolutionary theory in schools. It turns out that in the twentieth century, you can suffer for scientific beliefs. The process was short-lived, and the teachers were only sentenced to a fine of $ 100.
Lawyers sought not only to justify the teacher, but also to achieve the abolition of the reactionary law. Scopes, in fact, was acquitted, but the Butler act was canceled only in 1967.
12
Military Tribunal in Nuremberg
After the end of World War II, the crimes of the Nazis were widely publicized. For the first time in the history of mankind, the tribunal has openly tried war criminals.
In total, 403 meetings were held, during which all the crimes of the Nazis and their accomplices against humanity were proved. 12 people (Martin Bormann in absentia) were sentenced to death by hanging. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The “Court of History," as the Nuremberg Tribunal is sometimes called, was the final episode of the defeat of Nazism, although some criminals of the Third Reich were convicted much later. Speaking of battles in the Nazi forces after May 9, 1945, thebiggest.ru has a very interesting article.
13
Eichmann's trial
The tribunal over the "Holocaust architect" Adolf Eichmann took place 15 years after the end of the war. Mossad officers tracked down a former SS man in Argentina.
The process was closely monitored by the entire world community. Time Magazine fully covered the meetings.
The Nazi strongly denied any involvement in crimes against Jews and other peoples. But his guilt was fully proved, and on the night of May 31 to June 1, 1962, a war criminal was hanged in an Israeli prison.
14
Eduard Streltsov
One of the high-profile cases, overgrown with many rumors and conjectures, is connected with the accusations of the player of the USSR national football team and the Moscow Torpedo Eduard Streltsov of raping 20-year-old Marina Lebedeva.
The case was, as they say, “sewn with white thread”, and contained many inconsistencies and conflicting testimonies of witnesses and the victim. But Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev personally took control of him, and the player was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Five years later, Eduard Streltsov was released ahead of schedule, but the sentence was not canceled. In 1965, a talented footballer was allowed to return to big football.
15
"Cotton business"
In the late 70s, an investigation was launched into economic crimes and corruption in the Uzbek SSR. A total of 800 criminal cases were opened during the investigation.
With the coming to power of Yuri Andropov, the course of the investigation intensified and received wide publicity in the vastness of the Union. In total, about 4 thousand people were convicted on charges.
The high-profile case lasted until 1989. The most interesting thing is that the investigators of the "cotton case" themselves were prosecuted, which ceased only with the collapse of the USSR.
16
Judgment of Jesus
In conclusion, perhaps the most famous lawsuit in history.
We only know about this trial from Bible reports. After so many years, it is difficult to separate the historical truth from speculation, but combine the facts with the lines of the Bible.
In 63 BC, the Romans captured Jerusalem. After the rebellion of the Jews in the year 6 AD, the Romans finally enslaved the Jewish people. After the execution of John the Baptist, a new leader appeared among the Jews. The people believed in Jesus and followed him.
The tension between the Romans and the Jews increased. The reason for the arrest of Jesus was that he expelled the merchants from the temple, and in the temple of Herod turned the table over.
Judged Jesus procurator Pontius Pilate. Not wanting to increase tension, Rome invited the crowd to have mercy on Jesus, but the people of Jerusalem chose to free the thief Barnabas. The further course of events is known to everyone.
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Conclusion
As you can see, many lawsuits have attracted much attention of contemporaries. And today, historians, lawyers, writers turn to the affairs of bygone years to get to the bottom of the truth.
It is a pity that many of the charges were made without reason, without evidence, but after all these sentences are the fate of people and even entire nations. One has only to recall the Tukhachevsky Affair, the deportation of Crimean Tatars, the struggle against cosmopolitanism. But US Army soldiers who killed 500 civilians in the village of Mai Lei were never convicted, and even attempting to assassinate President R. Reagan, was also acquitted and released.
The main thing is that truth and justice always triumph. It is difficult to reverse history and correct judicial errors. What do you think about this topic? Thebiggest is happy to receive any feedback from you. Write your thoughts, share your opinion with readers in the comments below the article.
Article author: Valery Skiba