MOSCOW. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Human rights campaigners, politicians and cultural figures have called on the Russian authorities to veto a bill that bars juries from trying cases of terrorism and espionage.

"These proposed changes to the procedures for hearing cases of terrorism, mass riots, espionage and other similar crimes without jurors' involvement will not help step up the fight against these crimes. They will only lead to an increase in figures, an imitation of this fight and show trials, as a result of which dozens of innocent people will be sent to prisons and penal colonies," says an address, which was circulated in Moscow on Wednesday.

The address was signed by Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Social Treaty Institute President Alexander Auzan, actress Lia Akhedzhakova, writer Dmitry Bykov, director Mark Zakharov, lawyer Genri Reznik, politician Vladimir Ryzhkov, Indem foundation president Georgy Satarov, and other persons.

According to the document, the bill authors' reference to international experience that terrorism-related cases allegedly tend to be heard without a jury contradicts all known facts.

"Even Northern Ireland is gradually switching back to jury trials from specialized courts for extremists. Whereas precedent-setting rulings issued by U.S. judges that recognize the right to a jury trial, for instance, in the case of Guantanamo prisoners directly point to the fact that only this form of justice is capable of protecting (the defendants) from a phenomenon that is called the arbitrariness of investigation and preliminary inquiry bodies in our language," the document said.

"The authors of the bill and State Duma deputies have totally ignored the political and the potential social aspect of jury trials, the meaning of which is that citizens of Russia who have served as jurors become more mature and responsible from a civic standpoint. In addition, their experience helps them change their attitude to courts and the state in general," it said.