Putin: order and discipline not a sign of Stalinism

By Steve Gutterman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin rejected comparisons with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on Thursday in his annual televised question-and-answer session with citizens, denying political persecution but saying Russia needed order and discipline.  A liberal journalist referred to a host of legal sanctions applied to Putin's opponents since he was re-elected president to ask him whether there were elements of Stalinism in his exercise of power.

But on a day when the first Russian civic group was fined under a new law intended to limit foreign influence, an opposition activist was jailed over an anti-government protest and another was being tried for fraud, Putin dismissed the idea.

"I don't see any elements of Stalinism here," he said. "Stalinism is linked to the cult of personality, massive legal violations, repressions and labor camps. "There is nothing like that in Russia and I hope there never will be again," he said. "But this does not mean that we should not have order and discipline."

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