Putin will pardon jailed oil tycoon
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a surprise decision that will let his top foe and Russia’s formerly richest man out of prison after more than a decade.
Putin waited until just after his news conference to make the announcement, dropping the biggest news of the day after journalists had already peppered him with questions, including one about Khodorkovsky’s fate, in a four-hour marathon.
Putin said Khodorkovsky, who is set to be released in August 2014, had submitted an appeal for pardon, something he had refused to do before.
“He has spent more than 10 years behind bars. It’s a tough punishment,” Putin said. “He’s citing humanitarian aspects — his mother is ill. A decree to pardon him will be signed in the nearest time.”
In October 2003, masked commandos stormed into Khodorkovsky’s jet on the tarmac of a Siberian airport and arrested him at gunpoint. He was found guilty of tax evasion in 2005 and convicted of embezzlement in a second case in 2010.
Putin also confirmed an amnesty approved by the parliament on Wednesday will apply to the two members of Pussy Riot still in jail and the Greenpeace crew facing hooliganism charges for their protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.
Asked whether he felt sorry for the two women, Putin stood by his criticism of their protest, describing it as a publicity stunt that “crossed all barriers.”
He also said the Greenpeace activists were trying to hurt Russia’s economic interests. He added he did not mind that charges against the Greenpeace team were dropped under Wednesday’s amnesty bill, but he hoped “this will not happen again.”
Putin weathered months of massive protests against his rule in 2011-2012, when more than 100,000 gathered to oppose his return to the Russian presidency. A demonstration in May 2012 a day before his inauguration for a third term ended in scuffles with police.
The amnesty bill included only eight out of 26 people tried or awaiting trial in connection with that protest. Two of them were freed in a courtroom as Putin’s news conference was still ongoing.
Putin defended the decision not to offer amnesty to others, saying their release would give a bad example.
“No one should be allowed to violently trample on the law,” Putin said.
Amid a strain in Russia-US ties, he also offered surprising support to US President Barack Obama by saying that US National Security Agency surveillance is necessary to fight terrorism. The government should “limit the appetite” of the agency with a clear set of ground rules, he said.
Putin, a 16-year KGB veteran and the former chief of Russia’s main espionage agency, said the NSA program “isn’t a cause for joy, but is not a cause for repentance either” because it is needed to fight terrorism.
He argued it’s necessary to monitor large numbers of people to expose terrorist contacts. But “on political level, it’s necessary to limit the appetite of special services with certain rules,” he said.
Putin added the efficiency of the effort — and its damage to privacy — is limited by the sheer inability to process such a huge amount of data.
Asked about former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, whom Russia has granted asylum, Putin insisted Moscow isn’t controlling him.
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