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Stalin Center to Open in Central Russia

A photo exhibition — the first event at the center — will take place on Dec. 23. A conference on Stalin's legacy is to be hosted at the center on March 5, 2016.

A Stalin Center will be opened in the central Russian city of Penza by local Communist Party (KPRF) activists, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday.

Communists plan to host scientific conferences, public discussions and free movie screenings at the center.

“There are lots of falsifications and attacks on Stalin nowadays. We will actively promote facts and information about his era and personality,” local KPRF branch head Georgy Kamnev told Kommersant.

A photo exhibition — the first event at the center — will take place on Dec. 23. A conference on Stalin's legacy is to be hosted at the center on March 5, 2016.

Last week three Communist Party activists in the same city were fined 10,000 rubles ($150) each for laying flowers at a monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. The court ruled they were guilty of organizing an unauthorized rally, the Interfax news agency reported.

The activists were detained after they placed flowers at the monument to mark Lenin's birthday on April 22.

In September, Penza's Communist Party placed a Stalin monument in their office courtyard. The monument resulted in public outrage — locals filed a petition to the mayor demanding the monument be removed. However, the local authorities failed to take action because the monument was on private property.

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