Few small lie so.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil company, has just been sentenced to nine years in jail for alleged tax evasion and fraud. Everyone here knows, however, that his real crime was to pose a political threat to Mr Putin. ==
His frauds and tax evasions are not denied by even his payed supporters. The people who took money from him and have to convice everyone that he is saint.
So his crimes are NOR "allerged" and "everyone here knows" this fact.
Second thing. It is true that Putin has to begin his compaign against oligakh crime ring with Khodorkovskii since he is most dangerous criminal.
In Russia criminals was traditiionally forbidden to go into political circles.
It was ame during czar times. So Putin just fulfilled long standing tradition to destroy criminals to try to buy political parties.
"We should acknowledge," he declared in an astonishing speech two months ago, "that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the century." ==
It is phaze ciutted from context. In next sentence of his speach Putin said that no one with sane mind wants today USSR back.
The author ommited second sentence to reach propagandistic effect.
Russian Centre for Public Opinion found that 53 per cent of Russians still regard Stalin as a "great" leader. ==
The propagandistic ommition again. In poll the question was longer and different. It sounded like this: "Who was great leader during Great Patriotic War and make dsisive share in Victory?". Poll was conducted in eve of 60th Aneversary of Victory.
SO you see the distortion of this author?
About athor's conclusions made on base of his propagandistic distortions I would say they are misleading readers.
We went last week to the Moscow House of Photography which has a special exhibit on photos from World War II, and there are posters everywhere on the streets about "60 Years of the Great Victory". Not a mention anywhere of this person named Stalin. I think the official celebration is in late June, tied in with the anniversary, not of the taking of the Reichstag May 9th, but the Victory Parade June 26 1945. (I once mentioned to a friend that the Russians lost as many men in two weeks taking Berlin as the USA did the entire war, and his response was "sure, they were drunk and shot each other". You can't win with some people.)
For anyone who pretends to be a journalist, to claim with a straight face that 53% of Russians want Stalin back, there ought to be the journalistic equivalent of malpractice suits. Journalism should consist of MORE than a legal license to lie with impunity.