This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25450785
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Putin 'to pardon' jailed former oil tycoon Khodorkovsky | Putin 'to pardon' jailed former oil tycoon Khodorkovsky |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. | Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. |
| Mr Putin told reporters he had received a request from Khodorkovsky, who has been in custody for a decade, to pardon him on humanitarian grounds. | Mr Putin told reporters he had received a request from Khodorkovsky, who has been in custody for a decade, to pardon him on humanitarian grounds. |
| But representatives of the Kremlin critic deny a request was made. | |
| Khodorkovsky, who is regarded by many as a political prisoner and has long insisted he is innocent, is currently due to leave prison next August. | Khodorkovsky, who is regarded by many as a political prisoner and has long insisted he is innocent, is currently due to leave prison next August. |
| Khodorkovsky, 50, and fellow defendant Platon Lebedev were convicted of stealing oil and laundering money in 2010. They were already serving time for tax evasion. | |
| The European Court of Human Rights criticised the trials but rejected claims they were politically motivated. | |
| As head of the now defunct oil giant Yukos, Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest man. | |
| 'Mother ill' | |
| Speaking to reporters after his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, President Putin said he had not received a request from Khodorkovsky in the past. | |
| "And then quite recently he wrote such a document and addressed a request for a pardon to me," Mr Putin said. | |
| "He has already been in detention more than 10 years, this is a serious punishment and he is referring to humanitarian circumstances as his mother is ill." | |
| "I think given the circumstances we can take the decision and very soon the decree to pardon him will be signed," Mr Putin said. | |
| Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP news agency the request had been personally "signed" by Khodorkovsky. | |
| But Khodorkovsky's main lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, told Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency: "He has not made a request and we do not have information that someone has made a request on his behalf. | |
| "We do not have such information although there were requests to pardon him over the years from different individuals." |