The new tricolor flag of democratic Russia looked as if it had been hastily tacked to the courtroom wall underneath a metal emblem with the Soviet hammer and sickle. The 13 judges, seated at a nearby tribunal, did not appear to be completely comfortable in their new black robes with white linings. Minutes after the hearings opened, the court became embroiled in a free-for-all about how to deal with the fact that former President Mikhail Gorbachev had refused to show up. Show trials have always been a staple of Soviet political discourse, but the proceeding that began in Moscow last week...
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