Presumed Innocent, but Caged in Court
Under the Russian Constitution, Pavel V. Dmitrichenko, the star dancer charged with arranging an acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic director, is innocent until proven guilty. But in court, Mr. Dmitrichenko sits in a locked iron cage, guarded by security officers and, at times, a nasty-looking dog.
A similar scene played out this month in Cairo, where the ousted Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, was corralled with other defendants in a meshed metal cage — his first public appearance in four months. Mr. Morsi was defiant, refusing to wear the customary prison-issued white track suit, demanding a microphone to speak from the pen and denouncing the trial as illegitimate.
