In the West his is a textbook symbol of freedom fighter suffering for his cause - some sort of Get Out of Jail Free card (ironic, I know). They don't dig into his past, they don't watch his controversial and outright outrageous interviews where he speaks like any other russian imperialist. They see a façade and like it without second thought. And they are missing a simple fact that being a victim of the regime in russia doesn't mean you are white-winged crusader against all evil.