POLITICS : Anger Over Soviet Coup Subsiding

The attempt by hard-line conservatives to overthrow Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev last August barely lasted 72 hours, but the investigation into the affair has taken four months, the questioning of the suspects and more than 2,000 witnesses fills 125 volumes and the trial this summer promises to provide a spectacular window on Kremlin politics.

Twelve former Soviet officials were formally charged this week with conspiring to seize power in the putsch--a lesser charge than treason but one that carries potential prison sentences of 15 years or even execution.

The 12 include the former prime minister, Valentin S. Pavlov, the former defense minister, Dmitri T. Yazov, the former vice president, Gennady I. Yanayev, the former chairman of the Soviet legislature, Anatoly I. Lukyanov, and the former head of the KGB, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov.

Others charged include members of the self-appointed State Emergency Committee that tried to seize power, top Communist Party officials, the army commander and KGB generals, all of whom have been in custody and interrogated extensively since August.

“These men cannot be brought to trial without the darkest secrets of the Kremlin being exposed, for virtually all the testimony will be heard in open court,” said Yuri Feofanov, a legal commentator for the newspaper Izvestia.

The Russian prosecutors are not deterred. Their president, Boris N. Yeltsin, was the hero of the putsch, and his defense of the country’s new-born democracy put him in place as Gorbachev’s successor as the Soviet Union collapsed. They have nothing to fear, the prosecutors imply, from old Kremlin scandals.

Ironically, however, the once-intense passions around the case have subsided. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev’s resignation last month, the prosecution of those who tried but failed to oust him is little more than a political postscript for those who did manage to remove him.

An opinion survey conducted last month by the independent polling group Mneniye in 20 regions of Russia showed that only 30% wanted the conspirators punished, and most of those urged sentences of no more than 10 years. “The political situation is changing rapidly, and the events may well be viewed in an entirely different light at the time of the trial,” commented Yuri Pozdeyev, the attorney for Alexander Tizyakov, a member of the State Emergency Committee.

Even Alexei S. Sevastianov, a spokesman for Russia’s chief prosecutor, suggested that the judges may drop or modify some of the charges.

“People are beginning to see the actions of our men in quite a different way,” Valentina Pavlov, the former prime minister’s wife, said. “The recent events show them to be patriots trying to preserve the country and remedy its problems in a rational way--and in a way that the people would not suffer as much as they are now.”

“My father’s human rights have been monstrously violated, starting with the way the prosecution, the press and the government have all ignored the presumption of innocence,” said Lukyanov’s daughter Elena, a professor of constitutional law. “And the charge that he attempted to seize power becomes ridiculous when viewed against recent events--for who has power today?”

Viktor K. Grebenshikov, a reporter in The Times’ Moscow Bureau, contributed to this story.