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Freed Abruptly by Putin, Tycoon Arrives in Germany
Freed Abruptly by Putin, Tycoon Arrives in Germany
(about 9 hours later)
MOSCOW — After 10 years in jail, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos Oil and once Russia’s richest man, walked free from a prison colony in northern Russia on Friday and flew to Berlin on a private jet, the German Foreign Ministry confirmed.
MOSCOW — After 10 years in prison, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos Oil and once Russia’s richest man, walked free from a penal colony in northern Russia on Friday and flew to Berlin on a private jet. It was an abrupt and stunning end to an episode that had marked a darkly authoritarian turn for Russia under President Vladimir V. Putin, while sending a fearsome warning to the rest of the elite, oligarch class.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a decree pardoning the former oil tycoon early Friday, citing “humanitarian principles” and bringing Mr. Khodorkovsky’s criminal odyssey to an abrupt and unexpected end.
In a hastily arranged exit, Mr. Khodorkovsky was whisked to Berlin hours after Mr. Putin, in Moscow, signed a 34-word decree pardoning him of his crimes. Slightly more than a decade after his arrest by armed agents on an airport tarmac in Siberia, Mr. Khodorkovsky emerged into freedom on another airfield, smiling tightly as a former German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, greeted him and clasped his hand.
It came less than 24 hours after Mr. Putin, following his marathon annual news conference on Thursday, made the surprise announcement that clemency was imminent for Mr. Khodorkovsky, a one-time rival.
Yevgenia Albats, the editor of The New Times, a Moscow magazine, and a friend of Mr. Khodorkovsky’s, posted a message on Facebook that said she had spoken with him by telephone and described him as “completely zonked and happy.” “Ten years, 10 years,” she quoted him as saying. “And here is freedom.”
In a statement posted on his website, Mr. Khodorkovsky said that he had requested a pardon over a month ago, on Nov. 12, and that he was “happy for a favorable decision.”
In a statement on his website, Mr. Khodorkovsky said he had applied for a pardon more than a month ago, on Nov. 12, and that he was “happy for a favorable decision.”
It was not immediately clear why he had not informed his lawyers and family of the pardon request, leaving them as surprised as anyone else on Thursday after Mr. Putin announced that clemency was imminent.
The circumstances of his release, however, were as opaque as those of his arrest in 2003. It was not clear why he had not told his lawyers and family of the application, leaving them as surprised as anyone when Mr. Putin announced on Thursday that clemency was imminent.
“The question of my admitting guilt was not raised,” Mr. Khodorkovsky said in his statement, although the presidential pardon suggests that his conviction, as a matter of law, stands for now.
It was also not clear why Mr. Putin had chosen this moment to release Mr. Khodorkovsky, an aspiring political rival and a source of headaches for years for Mr. Putin. While serving time in prison for embezzlement, Mr. Khodorkovsky emerged as a powerful dissident voice, criticizing Mr. Putin’s consolidation of authority in the Kremlin and heavy-handed efforts to suppress dissent.
Adding a hint of defiance, Mr. Khodorkovsky said, “I would like to thank everyone who followed the Yukos case for all these years and for the support, which you gave to me, my family and all those who were unfairly convicted and continue to be persecuted.”
In his statement, Mr. Khodorkovsky added a hint of defiance that suggested his role as a critic was not yet done.
He added: “I greatly await the minute when I can hug those close to me and personally shake the hands of my friends and colleagues. I constantly think about those who are still in prison.”
“The question of my admitting guilt was not raised,” he said. At the same time, “I would like to thank everyone who followed the Yukos case for all these years and for the support which you gave to me, my family and all those who were unfairly convicted and continue to be persecuted.”
Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said on Friday that Mr. Khodorkovsky had sent two letters, one longer and personal, and the second a formal request for a pardon. He specifically asked permission to fly to Germany, Mr. Peskov told reporters.
And he added: “I greatly await the minute when I can hug those close to me and personally shake the hands of my friends and colleagues. I constantly think about those who are still in prison.”
President Putin had considered the request and decided to grant it, Mr. Peskov said, adding that there were no restrictions on Mr. Khodorkovsky returning to Russia.
Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters on Friday evening that the Kremlin had no role in Mr. Khodorkovsky’s departure to Germany, that travel documents had been prepared at his request and that he was free to return to Russia anytime.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement on Friday evening welcoming Mr. Khodorkovsky’s release, for which she said she had “repeatedly petitioned the Russian president,” according to her spokesman.
“A citizen of the Russian Federation cannot be banned from returning to Russia,” Mr. Peskov said. “I don’t know why he went to Germany, but it was absolutely his personal decision. No one dictates to him. If he wants, he can stay here. If he wants, he can fly to Germany. It’s absolutely his decision.”
A former German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, helped arrange Mr. Khodorkovsky’s travel to Berlin, where he arrived on Friday as a private citizen, officials said. He had been held most recently in a prison colony in the Karelia region of northwestern Russia.
Mr. Peskov said Mr. Khodorkovsky had sent the president two letters, one personal and the other a formal request for a pardon. He specifically asked for permission to fly to Germany, Mr. Peskov said.
Nataliya V. Bystritskaya, a spokeswoman for Russia’s prison system, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Khodorkovsky had flown to Germany to see his mother, who has undergone medical treatment there, after being issued documents allowing him to leave the country. “We emphasize that the flight took place at his request, and the documents for going abroad were issued at his personal request,” Ms. Bystritskaya’s office said in a statement.
Western governments hailed Mr. Khodorkovsky’s release. In Washington, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Caitlin M. Hayden, said: “The United States welcomes the pardons of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other Russian citizens. For many years, we have voiced our concerns about politically motivated investigations and selective prosecutions in Russia, including in Khodorkovsky’s case. Today’s humanitarian gesture is a positive development for Russian society, but we continue to be deeply troubled by selective justice in Russia.”
Mr. Khodorkovsky’s mother, Marina, however, said in a telephone interview that while she had sought treatment at a clinic in Berlin, she was currently in Moscow.
Mr. Genscher, the former foreign minister of Germany, who said he had worked for years behind the scenes to help secure Mr. Khodorkovsky’s release, arranged for his travel on a private jet. Although the German Embassy in Moscow helped expedite his travel documents, officials said, Mr. Khodorkovsky arrived as a private citizen. He had been held most recently in a prison colony in the Karelia region of northwestern Russia, near Finland.
Mr. Khodorkovsky had left the prison in the Karelia region by midafternoon, according to Maksim Dbar, a spokesman for his press service. Mr. Khodorkovsky’s lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, said he was unaware of the procedures for releasing his client.
Nataliya V. Bystritskaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian prison system, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Khodorkovsky had flown to Germany to see his mother, who has been receiving medical treatment there. But his mother, Marina, said that while she had sought treatment at a clinic in Berlin, she was now in Moscow. Mr. Khodorkovsky has a son, Pavel, who lives in the United States.
Marina Khodorkovsky also said she and her husband had not yet been able to speak with their son, who while in prison was allowed a 15-minute phone call with them on Saturdays. “It’s such an unusual situation that there is no procedure worked out for it, I think,” she said in a telephone interview on the television network Dozhd. “Everything has been done so spontaneously that I can’t say anything at all.”
Marina Khodorkovsky also said she and her husband had not yet spoken with their son, who while in prison was allowed a 15-minute phone call with them on Saturdays. “It’s such an unusual situation that there is no procedure worked out for it, I think,” she said in a telephone interview on the Russian television network Dozhd. “Everything has been done so spontaneously that I can’t say anything at all.”
Mr. Khodorkovsky’s pardon is all the more remarkable because only two weeks ago, Russia’s deputy prosecutor general, Alexander G. Zvyagintsev, told the Interfax news agency that a third criminal case was being prepared against him and others that would “have very good prospects in court.” Vladimir I. Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee, declined on Friday to discuss the investigation or Mr. Putin’s pardon decree.
In an interview with the German public station ARD, Mr. Genscher said that Mr. Khodorkovsky was doing well and that his focus was on seeing his family soon. But he said they had not discussed his plans during the brief ride from the airport.
The release of Mr. Khodorkovsky represented an unexpected and striking turnabout for Mr. Putin. For a decade, he has shown no signs of sympathy, let alone mercy, as the authorities dismantled Mr. Khodorkovsky’s company and pursued criminal charges that seemed intended to keep him in prison for life.
Mr. Khodorkovsky’s pardon is all the more remarkable because only two weeks ago Russia’s deputy prosecutor general, Aleksandr G. Zvyagintsev, told the Interfax news agency that a third criminal case was being prepared against him and others.
Mr. Putin, who commands singular political authority here, now appears to have the confidence to risk freeing a man who even in prison has persisted as one of his harshest political critics and who still has the will and financial resources to challenge not only the seizure of his company’s assets but also Mr. Putin’s power. Mr. Putin may also have an eye to presenting a positive image to the outside world ahead of the Winter Olympics, which start in the Russian city of Sochi on Feb. 7.
Mr. Putin, however, said during his annual news conference on Thursday that he thought a third case was unlikely. Then, in an aside to reporters as he left the auditorium, he said he would soon issue a pardon.
Freedom represents a new, if uncertain, chapter for Mr. Khodorkovsky, who plunged from almost unimaginable wealth to a jail cell in the Karelia region near Finland, but still managed to maintain some visibility, including writing opinion articles for various newspapers and keeping a website, mostly detailing his case. With a fortune abroad that he managed to maintain after his arrest, Mr. Khodorkovsky could also have an opportunity to once again become an outspoken public figure, presumably with more caution than in the past.
Reporting
was contributed by Melissa Eddy from Berlin; Andrew Roth, Nikolay Khalip and Viktor Klimenko from Moscow; and Michael D. Shear from Washington.
The release of Mr. Khodorkovsky comes as Mr. Putin has been asserting himself internationally, averting an American-led military strike on Syria and securing Russia’s sway over Ukraine as it was on the verge of moving closer to the European Union.
Mr. Putin acted after the Russian Parliament adopted a sweeping amnesty law that could free several high-profile defendants whose politically charged cases symbolized what critics denounced as the repression of dissent. They include two performers from the punk protest group Pussy Riot and 30 Greenpeace activists who were detained in September after protesting oil exploration in the Arctic.
A court here on Thursday dropped charges against four demonstrators accused of being involved in a confrontation with the police after Mr. Putin’s election to another term in 2012. They were the first of perhaps thousands of defendants who stand to benefit from the amnesty.
Mr. Putin proposed the amnesty to mark the 20th anniversary of Russia’s Constitution this month — and Parliament dutifully obliged by passing it — but the timing also appeared intended to temper the criticism of Russia’s civil rights record ahead of the Olympics.
“It’s a decision to make our criminal justice policy more humane,” Mr. Putin said on Thursday at a marathon news conference that underscored his absolute political dominance here.
Mr. Khodorkovsky, who spent his 50th birthday in June in prison, was one of the businessmen in the new Russia of the 1990s who amassed such staggering fortunes and political influence that they became known as oligarchs. A former member of the Communist Youth League, or Komsomol, Mr. Khodorkovsky seized the opportunity offered by Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s period of perestroika in the twilight of the Soviet era to open a cafe, which soon became a trading company and then a bank.
In 1995 he acquired the failing oil company that became Yukos, and in the tumultuous, often violent Wild East atmosphere of the era, he steadily expanded the company and his wealth in deals that were widely criticized as shadowy, if not corrupt. By the time Mr. Putin became president on New Year’s Eve in 1999, Mr. Khodorkovsky had emerged as the country’s richest man and sought to commit himself to modern corporate governance and philanthropy.
Although spared Mr. Putin’s early prosecutorial assaults on oligarchs, Mr. Khodorkovsky’s corporate and political ambitions soon clashed with Mr. Putin’s own consolidation of control. Although there are many theories on Mr. Khodorkovsky’s arrest, most focus on his political contributions in the 2003 parliamentary elections and Mr. Putin’s desire to bring natural resources back into the state’s hands.
Mr. Khodorkovsky’s two trials on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, as well as the absorption of Yukos’s assets into the state oil company, Rosneft, were widely condemned as a vendetta by Mr. Putin against a rival in business and politics. After a second conviction in 2010, Mr. Khodorkovsky and his business partner, Platon A. Lebedev, were declared prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Mr. Lebedev remains in jail.
Andrew Roth and Nikolay Khalip contributed reporting.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 20, 2013
Correction: December 20, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the location of the Karelia region of Russia. It is near Finland, not Sweden.
An earlier version of this article misstated the location of the Karelia region of Russia. It is near Finland, not Sweden.
