No definition of a witch-hunt could be more accurate and succinct than this.
In these trials nobody is allowed a lawyer or any means of fair defense, for witchcraft is reckoned an exceptional crime, and whoever ventures to defend the prisoner falls himself under suspicion of witchcraft--as well as those who dare to utter a protest in these cases and to urge the judges to exercise prudence, for they are forthwith labeled supporters of witchcraft.
Thus everybody keeps quiet for fear.