"A wild mockery, unthinkable in the 20th century." That is how one young Russian, Pavel Litvinov, the grandson of ex-Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov, described the trial in Moscow last week of four young intellectuals accused of anti-Soviet agitation. In a show of defiance not seen for years in the Soviet Union, members of the country's educated elite challenged the government's case. Several petitions circulated, demanding "a full public airing" at the trial. Crowds gathered outside the courtroom, yelling, shoving and needling security guards. But Soviet justice pays scant heed to...
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