The case against the 12 former Soviet officials on trial for the failed attempt to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev opened with much fanfare in April 1993. In a country notorious for legal travesty -- from the show trials of the Stalin era to the daily perversions of justice practiced under Leonid Brezhnev and his successors -- the trial was supposed to bring a sense of catharsis to Yeltsin's young democracy. It was supposed to be the first concrete step toward transforming Russia into what Gorbachev had said he wanted it to be: a law-based state.
But the case before the Supreme Court's military bench soon degenerated into a parody of justice. The defendants -- who were charged with high treason, which is punishable by death -- had been freed from prison before the trial even began. As proceedings dragged on, the accused began to "fall ill," causing the case to be postponed again and again. Some stopped appearing in court. Although they were still charged with treason, the ex-officials were allowed to run in the parliamentary vote in December; two won seats and made a brazen but vain attempt to secure immunity from prosecution.
What the court would not then do, the State Duma has now achieved.
With its amnesty resolution last week, the Duma sought to force the Supreme Court to drop the treason charges. The court had grounds to oppose this effort: Under the Russian criminal code a defendant may be amnestied only after being found guilty. The justices could have insisted on completing the trial, reaching a verdict and then granting the amnesty. After all, the August 1991 defendants -- unlike the October 1993 rebel leaders freed Saturday under the same amnesty -- were not behind bars.
But the court, with a chilling new political wind sweeping the country, chose not to resist. It caved in.
What does this mean for Russia? Of the three branches of government, the legislature has shown that it will allow its political friends to break the law with impunity. The executive branch is looking increasingly rudderless at the top, with an absent Yeltsin allowing the government to turn its policies back toward the Communist era.
And if there is any doubt that the justice branch has now made a mockery of justice, spare a thought for Gorbachev, the man held captive during those tense hours of Aug. 19-21, 1991. His erstwhile friends-turned-enemies have been cleared of any guilt. Would he say that justice has been served? Clearly not.
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