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STALIN STATUE DAUBED WITH PINK PAINT IN GEORGIA
TBILISI, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - Unknown vandals have daubed pink
paint over a statue of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin near Tbilisi,
the capital of his homeland, Georgia.
The incident, which took place in the Georgian village of Dideba,
is the third in the series of similar pink-paint attacks on Stalin
monuments in the former Soviet state this year.
On Thursday, unknown attackers in the village of Akura, eastern
Georgia, pulled another Stalin statue off its pedestal and poured
pink paint on it.
In January, another Stalin monument was also damaged and daubed in
pink in Zemo Alvani, in eastern Georgia's Kakheti region.
Local residents blame the attacks on activists from President Mikheil
Saakashvili's United National Movement, who have opposed calls voiced
by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition for
restoration of damaged Stalin monuments.
The Stalin statue attacks may be linked to a new action campaign,
dubbed "I painted a Stalin statue," unveiled by Georgia's Facebook
users, who claim they attacked the monument in Akura. The vandals
have threatened the attacks on Stalin statues will continue.
Stalin remains a divisive figure in his former homeland, cherished
by many as the local hero who rose to the top of the Soviet Empire,
but reviled by many as a cruel tyrant who wreaked havoc in his home
republic with vicious political repression, particularly against
those to whom he bore grudges from his past and political opponents.
TBILISI, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - Unknown vandals have daubed pink
paint over a statue of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin near Tbilisi,
the capital of his homeland, Georgia.
The incident, which took place in the Georgian village of Dideba,
is the third in the series of similar pink-paint attacks on Stalin
monuments in the former Soviet state this year.
On Thursday, unknown attackers in the village of Akura, eastern
Georgia, pulled another Stalin statue off its pedestal and poured
pink paint on it.
In January, another Stalin monument was also damaged and daubed in
pink in Zemo Alvani, in eastern Georgia's Kakheti region.
Local residents blame the attacks on activists from President Mikheil
Saakashvili's United National Movement, who have opposed calls voiced
by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition for
restoration of damaged Stalin monuments.
The Stalin statue attacks may be linked to a new action campaign,
dubbed "I painted a Stalin statue," unveiled by Georgia's Facebook
users, who claim they attacked the monument in Akura. The vandals
have threatened the attacks on Stalin statues will continue.
Stalin remains a divisive figure in his former homeland, cherished
by many as the local hero who rose to the top of the Soviet Empire,
but reviled by many as a cruel tyrant who wreaked havoc in his home
republic with vicious political repression, particularly against
those to whom he bore grudges from his past and political opponents.