Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said jury trials should remain, but not be allowed to consider corruption cases because of their "exposure" to outside influence.
"We definitely need to develop this institution," he told a meeting of the presidential civil society institutions and human rights council, the verbatim record of which was published on the Kremlin's official website Wednesday.
His remarks appear to be at odds with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's recent comment that jury trials are ineffectual and should be abolished on a local level and only used on the federal level.
However, Medvedev said there was no getting away from the fact that "our juries are vulnerable" and "I am no so sure that a jury trial is a good form in the administration of justice, for example, in bribery cases."
MOSCOW, February 2 (RIA Novosti)
