To their mammoth trials and huge public executions, the Chinese Communists added a more intimate instrument of terror: small "citizens' conferences" to review sentences already passed on "enemies of the people." In its first "review" session in Peking last week, an eager citizens' conference approved the jail sentences of 83 prisoners, suspended sentence on two, slapped heavier sentences on 18, and ordered the execution of nine who previously had only been given jail terms. Said Peking's Peoples Daily approvingly: "Not only were the judgments made more exact but the masses' conception of being the masters was also increased by...
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