Notice too how the supporters of these measures attempt to frame the debate around wealthy foreign tax evaders while minimizing the plight of ordinary Cypriots.
This extract from an opinion piece in The Guardian says it all
"..the debt burden has been transferred from the banks, where it properly belongs, to households, who had no part in their lending decisions.
As part of that propaganda campaign, the focus has been on Russian oligarchs and tax evaders who have been laundering funds through Cypriot banks. In fact, among those caught in the upper savings bracket are bound to be pensioners for whom this represents their entire life savings, and others who have recently borrowed enough money to buy a modest home. But even if only oligarchs were affected, this is surely an admission of guilt by the European and international authorities, who are responsible for the global regulation of banks and co-ordinating anti-money laundering activities. Their own failure can hardly be a justification for expropriating the small savers of Cyprus."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/17/savers-h...