Residents of the Georgian town of Gori gather to mark the 134th birthday of the late Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.<br/> <br />Stalin was born in Gori and there is a museum there telling the story of his life.<br/> <br />Alexander Lusmanashvili, the leader of Georgia's United Communist Party has high praise for Stalin.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Georgian) LEADER OF GEORGIA'S UNITED COMMUNIST PARTY ALEXANDER LUSMANASHVILI, SAYING:<br/> <br />"It is a special day today for the people with progressive thinking, for those who love justice and know the price of the real democracy. On this day in 1879 a man of the world's standing, Josef Stalin, was born. He's from Gori, he is Georgian, and that's why we should come here and honour memory of such a great man."<br/> <br />Widely reviled as a dictator responsible for millions of deaths, Stalin is held up as a hero by supporters across the former Soviet Union who say the country could not have defeated Nazi Germany or become a superpower without his leadership.
