Roy Medvedev On Soviet Dissent:

"At first, the authorities deny that dissent exists; they look astonished if you ask them about it. Then they try to portray every dissident as a criminal who's been left unmolested only by the clemency of the government. And then, if the culprit refuses to repent, they arrest him and deport or exile him. But they must brand him as a criminal because no dialogue or discussion is possible. You must understand that describing Sakharov and other dissenters as criminals and spies is not an a posteriori cover up, but rather the government's way of thinking and acting. The government will not and cannot admit that political opposition exists in any form whatever."