Hopes for Court Reform Stir in Russia

Judge's Testimony Describing Political Pressure Seen as Hint of Medvedev's Intent

MOSCOW -- Yelena Valyavina, a senior judge at the Federal Arbitration Court, electrified a Moscow courtroom last month when she stated openly what had long been unspoken, at least by influential insiders: The Kremlin has pressured and threatened the Russian judiciary to secure favorable rulings.

The testimony by such a senior judge was cause for some cautious optimism that calls by Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, for an independent court system might actually be genuine. Valyavina's boss, Chief Justice Anton Ivanov, is one of Medvedev's oldest and closest associates, and that connection was lost on no one.

During the eight-year presidency of Vladimir Putin, courts were politicized as part of a broad centralization of power in the Kremlin that also brought controls on the news media, the effective renationalization of strategic industries and the marginalization of opposition political parties. With the formal handover of power now a month old, Russians are watching to see if the country will head in a new direction.

During the election campaign and since becoming president, Medvedev has stressed the primacy of the law as a guarantor of democratic rights and an antidote to endemic corruption, themes that carry implicit criticism of Putin's rule.

"Our main goal is to achieve independence of the courts as a reality," Medvedev said at a meeting last month in the Kremlin with senior judges and legal officials. He added that unjust decisions "come as a result of different kinds of pressure like telephone calls and, there's no point in denying, offers of money."

Putin's public statements have a different tone. Now prime minister, Putin said last week that the "judicial system is developing and proving that it is viable."

Medvedev's predecessor has often appeared to overshadow him in his first days as president. Putin symbolically sat in his own old seat at the Kremlin when the two met. He has held forth on foreign policy -- the president's prerogative, according to the Russian constitution. And in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, Putin appeared to forget momentarily that he is no longer president.

When he was asked whether he could convince the French president that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program, Putin said: "I assure you that the president of France is no less well informed than the president of Russia." He paused before adding, "Let alone the former president of Russia."

So far, there has been little daylight between Putin and Medvedev on economic, social or foreign policy issues. The new president, like Putin before him, has rejected any further eastward expansion by the NATO military alliance or the stationing of a U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

But legal reform could be a key mechanism through which Medvedev could distinguish himself. And, according to political analysts, it could siphon to the new president some of Putin's popularity because the public is disillusioned with the legal system, whether it's the traffic police or the Supreme Court.

"It was not the rule of law, it was the rule of fear," said Yevgeny Kiselyov, who hosts a political talk show on Echo Moskvy, a Russian radio service. "Everyone feared that the present system could crush him. Ordinary people feel defenseless and frustrated. But if the idea appears that because of Medvedev's decisions there is suddenly a place to go in Russia to protect your rights, his popularity will grow."

Judges long associated with Kremlin justice are suddenly looking over their shoulders, Kiselyov said. He noted what he called credible reports that Olga Yegorova, who turned the Moscow City Court system into a crude extension of the Kremlin's rule, is being pushed out.