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Article: Editorial - Return of Stalin
- Article from:
- Winnipeg Free Press
- Article date:
- December 19, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright F.P. Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership Dec 19, 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Return of Stalin
RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has put a bill before his country's parliament that would define criticism of the government as treason.
This is an extraordinarily punitive piece of legislation -- in almost every nation, treason is considered among the most serious of crimes; in Canada, in fact, it is the only crime that can still be punished by the death penalty.
It is part of a pattern of Mr. Putin's dictatorial behaviour that extends back through his two terms as president and which clearly has the support of his protege who succeeded him as president, Dmitry Medvedev. Although Mr. Medvedev showed signs of pro-democratic liberalism in his early career, he is ...