Putin's Russia sends mixed signals on Stalin-era crimes
Source: AFP
Moscow (AFP) - Russia plans to unveil a bronze "Wall of Grief" in Moscow next year in its first tangible condemnation of Stalin-era crimes but critics accuse the government of playing a double game.
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Since Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, Stalin's rating in opinion polls has improved dramatically: the percentage of Russians who believe his purges were "justified" has grown from 25 percent to 45 percent, according to Levada Centre, an independent pollster. Thousands gather every year on October 30 to commemorate those unlawfully arrested and shot under Stalin by reading out their names, but Putin, who sets the political agenda, has never taken part.
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Dmitry Gudkov, an opposition lawmaker in the lower house of parliament, said the government's contradictory stance on the Soviet repressions showed that "the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing." Earlier this month, Gudkov, whose great-grandfather was a victim of the purges, submitted a bill to ban the glorification of Stalin at public events and punish politicians who justify or deny his repressions. It is not clear yet when it will be debated in parliament.
People associate Stalin with a form of hardline management that keeps order amid chaos, Gudkov told AFP, an attractive concept as life becomes increasingly unequal and corrupt. "The authorities create an atmosphere in which people start looking for justice and pride in the past rather than the present... so they try to justify Stalin's crimes," he said.
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