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The Empty Chair: The Rise of Trials in Absentia
Crime, courts & justice9 min

The Empty Chair: The Rise of Trials in Absentia

In the 1980s, the Sicilian Maxi Trial convicted hundreds of mafiosi, many of whom were fugitives represented only by an empty chair. This episode explores the legal mechanics of in absentia trials, the human rights safeguards required to make them fair, and the growing global trend of convicting defendants who aren't in the room.

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Show notes

The nineteen eighty-six Maxi Trial used empty chairs to symbolize judicial authority over one hundred nineteen fugitives.

Convictions in absentia strip fugitives of legal standing and authorize international manhunts for mafia bosses.

Global cases of trials in absentia surged from four in twenty twenty-two to one hundred fifty-seven by twenty twenty-five.

Modern governments use absentia rulings as tools for transnational repression against exiled journalists and critics.

India's twenty twenty-three legal reforms now allow for the trial of proclaimed offenders in their absence.

The European Court of Human Rights mandates that defendants tried in absentia retain the right to a retrial.

In this episode
  1. 01Intro1 min
  2. 02The Maxi Trial and the Empty Chair3 min
  3. 03The Global Surge and Legal Safeguards2 min
  4. 04The Right to Return and Retrial3 min
  5. 05Outro1 min
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The Empty Chair: The Rise of Trials in Absentia — Fylom