Exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been placed on an international wanted list over the 1990s murder of a Siberian mayor.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been living in exile in Europe since he was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin in 2013 for fraud after 10 years in jail.
Russia’s once-richest man said the authorities had “gone mad”.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is accused of ordering several of his employees to kill both the mayor and a businessman, who survived.
Investigators allege Vladimir Petukhov, the mayor of Nefteyugansk, was killed on June 26, 1998, for demanding Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s oil firm, Yukos, pay taxes that the company had been avoiding.
Photo Getty Images
Local businessman Yevgeny Rybin was allegedly targeted because his activities “clashed with Yukos’s interests”, Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee (SK) said in a statement as it announced his arrest in absentia.
Yevgeny Rybin survived a gun attack in November 1998 and a second attack on his car in March 1999, when another man in the vehicle was killed and several people were injured.
Five people have already been tried for the attacks and the arrest warrant is unlikely to make any difference unless Mikhail Khodorkovsky returns to Russia.
Armed police raided the Moscow offices of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia pro-democracy movement on December 22, in a move that authorities said was linked to allegations of tax evasion. The flats of at least seven activists who work for Mikhail Khodorkovsky were also searched.
The exiled oil tycoon, who now spends much of his time in London, has repeatedly criticized Vladimir Putin in recent months. He said December 22 raids were acts of intimidation and the sign of an “authoritarian regime” nearing its “inevitable” end.
In further comments on December 23, Mikhail Khodorkovsky said the authorities were acting like bandits: “They’ve gone mad. I realized that yesterday.”
After Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003, Yukos was broken up and taken over by a state oil firm.
In 2014, an international arbitration court in The Hague said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos, and jail Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The court told Russia to pay former shareholders in Yukos $50 billion in compensation.
Belgium has unblocked frozen Russian state accounts, Belgium’s foreign minister says.
The assets were seized in a move triggered by a court ruling over the now-defunct Yukos oil company.
In July 2014, an international arbitration court said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos.
Yukos was then taken over by a Russian state company.
The company’s former boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was also jailed.
In 2014, a court told Russia to pay Yukos shareholders $50 billion in compensation, after Yukos’s break-up.
But Russia does not acknowledge the court’s findings, leading former Yukos shareholders to get Russian state assets frozen.
Responding to the asset seizure, President Vladimir Putin said he would “defend our interests by the route of justice”.
Belgium’s ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Kremlin, and told the asset seizure was “an openly hostile act” that “crudely violates the recognized norms of international law”.
While visiting China, Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: “A solution has been found to unblock as a priority accounts for the running of the embassies, and the rest will follow.”
France also seized Russian state accounts in about 40 banks, along with several buildings.
It is not known if those assets will also be unblocked.
On June 19, Mikhail Khodorkovsky – who was freed in 2013 – said the seizure of Russian assets was “a signal that theft will not escape punishment, no matter how all-powerful the thief was”.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has not responded to Belgium’s decision to unfreeze the assets.
Russia has protested over the seizure of the Russian state assets in Belgium, a move triggered by a court ruling over the now-defunct Yukos oil company.
The Belgian ambassador to Moscow was told that the asset seizure was “an openly hostile act” that “crudely violates the recognized norms of international law”.
In 2014, a court told Russia to pay Yukos shareholders $50 billion in compensation, after Yukos’s break-up.
A Russian state company took over Yukos.
In July 2014, an international arbitration court in The Hague said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos, and jail its boss, the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
France has also seized Russian state accounts in about 40 banks, along with eight or nine buildings, AFP news agency reports.
In a statement on Facebook, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent 10 years in detention in Russia, expressed joy at the asset seizures.
“I am not a beneficiary in this process as the partners redeemed my share back in 2004. But this does not prevent me from sincerely rejoicing, as a Russian citizen, at what is happening now.
“This is a symbolic moment for our country,” Mikhail Khodorkovsky said, calling it “a signal that theft will not escape punishment, no matter how all-powerful the thief was”.
According to a Russian foreign ministry statement, Russia demanded that Belgium reverse its asset seizure. If no such action was taken, Russia warned, it would consider “appropriate reciprocal measures” against the Belgian embassy and unnamed Belgian officials.
Earlier, Russia’s Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev ruled out any compensation for Yukos shareholders. Their interests are now represented by a Gibraltar-registered holding company, GML.
Russia is appealing against the court ruling of last July, Alexei Ulyukayev said.
The asset seizures in Belgium and France also affect Russian media, including TASS news agency and state broadcaster VGTRK, Russian media report.
GML manager Tim Osborne was quoted in French media as saying similar legal action was being taken against Russian state assets in the UK and US.
Platon Lebedev, the former business partner of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, with whom he was jailed in 2005, will be released, Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered.
Platon Lebedev and Mikhail Khodorkovsky were convicted of tax evasion and theft after funding opposition parties and falling out with President Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin pardoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky last month, but Platon Lebedev, who was due for release in May, did not seek a pardon and stayed in jail.
The Russian Supreme Court ruled that his sentence should be reduced and that he would be able to walk free on Friday.
“Release Lebedev,” Supreme Court Judge Pyotr Serkov declared in the ruling, after reducing his sentence so that it amounted to time served.
Platon Lebedev and his former business partner Mikhail Khodorkovsky were jailed in 2005
Both men’s convictions remain in place, despite repeated appeals.
It did not change a court order under which Platon Lebedev and Mikhail Khodorkovsky must pay 17 billion roubles ($500 million) in tax arrears.
That debt is an obstacle to Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s return to Russia after leaving for Germany in December.
The releases are believed by many to be part of a drive to improve Russia’s international image ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics next month.
Other prominent inmates freed in the past few weeks included two women from the Pussy Riot protest group, jailed over the performance of a “punk prayer” critical of Vladimir Putin in a Russian Orthodox church.
Platon Lebedev used to head NFO Menatep, while Mikhail Khodorkovsky ran oil giant Yukos and was once Russia’s richest man.
Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was recently freed after 10 years in jail, has been granted with a three-month Swiss visa.
“The visa allows a three-month stay in the Schengen area,” the Swiss embassy in Berlin said, referring to the 26-nation free-travel zone in Europe.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been staying in a German hotel following his release earlier this month.
His family lives in Switzerland and he has business there.
At the time of his arrest more than 10 years ago, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was Russia’s richest man, and he used some of his wealth to fund opposition parties.
He was found guilty of fraud and tax evasion, and has always insisted that his conviction was politically motivated.
Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was recently freed after 10 years in jail
Since being freed on December 20, and immediately flying to Germany, Mikhail Khodorkovsky has vowed to stay out of Russia.
But his spokesman admitted last week that he was considering a possible move to Switzerland, because that is where his wife Inna lives and his twin sons go to school.
A spokesman for Mikhail Khodorkovsky said: “He is very grateful to the Swiss authorities for the speed and efficiency with which they have dealt with his visa application.”
Mikhail Khodorkovsky had been due to be released next August, but requested a pardon because his mother is suffering from cancer.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has applied for a visa to travel to Switzerland, the Swiss foreign ministry says.
A ministry’s spokesman said Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky submitted his request for a three-month Schengen visa at the Swiss embassy in Berlin.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 50, a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin, spent 10 years in a Russian prison for fraud and tax evasion.
He was pardoned and freed on Friday and immediately flew to Germany.
Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Stefan von Below told the Associated Press news agency that the three-month visa request would probably be processed in the coming days.
He declined to give further details.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has applied for a visa to travel to Switzerland
Schengen visas allow holders to travel to most EU countries without having their passports or other documents checked at the border.
Earlier, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s spokeswoman, Olga Pispanen, told AFP news agency that he was considering moving to Switzerland where his twin sons go to school.
Olga Pispanen said he was due to be reunited with his wife, Inna, and their three children in Berlin on Christmas Eve and he planned to discuss the idea with them.
“He is waiting for the family’s arrival. They will sit down and discuss everything,” she added.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has always insisted that his conviction was politically motivated.
Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina has been freed early from prison in Russia under an amnesty, her lawyer announces.
Her lawyers said Maria Alyokhina was now on her way to Moscow.
The release of fellow band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is also expected later today.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were jailed in August 2012 for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after performing a protest song in Moscow’s main cathedral.
The conviction of the women was criticized by rights groups, anti-Putin activists and foreign governments.
Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina has been freed early from prison in Russia under an amnesty
Their sentences were due to end in March 2014, but they have known since last week that their release was imminent under an amnesty agreed by the Russian parliament.
On Friday Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky – once Russia’s richest man – was also pardoned and freed after more than 10 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion.
The amnesty deal, unanimously approved by the State Duma in Moscow last week, covers at least 20,000 prisoners, including minors, invalids, veterans, pregnant women, and mothers.
Charges against 30 protesters, mostly foreign nationals, who were arrested on a Greenpeace ship may also be dropped later this week.
The move is being widely seen as attempt to avoid controversy overshadowing the Winter Olympics in February, due to be hosted in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Maria Alyokhina was released from the prison camp in Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, early on Monday morning. She reportedly told waiting journalists that she felt well, before being driven away.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky flew to Berlin on board of a private jet, hours after being pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and freed from a decade in jail.
In a statement Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 50, confirmed he had asked Vladimir Putin for a pardon due to “family circumstances” – his mother is suffering from cancer.
The former tycoon did not admit guilt and referred to those who were “unjustly convicted and continue to be persecuted” in his case.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky met German ex-foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher in Berlin, hours after being pardoned by President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin earlier said he had signed the pardon on “the principles of humanity”.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the now defunct oil giant Yukos, was once Russia’s richest man and had used his wealth to fund opposition parties.
He was jailed for tax evasion and theft.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “happy” that Mikhail Khodorkovsky had been freed.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been released from jail following a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin, his lawyers say.
Vladimir Putin signed a decree earlier pardoning former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on the basis of “the principles of humanity”.
He said on Thursday that Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 50, had asked him for clemency because his mother was ill.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky – in custody for a decade – was jailed for tax evasion and theft after funding opposition parties.
The pardon comes after Russian MPs backed a wide-ranging amnesty for at least 20,000 prisoners.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been released from jail following a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin
Analysts say Vladimir Putin may be trying to ease international criticism of Russia’s human rights record ahead of February’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.
A document published by the Kremlin on Friday said the decree would come into force from the day of its signing.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said prison officials had confirmed that had left the he penal colony where he was being held in the Karelia region of north-western Russia.
The former tycoon had eaten lunch at the prison in Segezha as normal on Friday while his release papers were being drawn up, Russian news website Lenta.ru reports quoted an official as saying.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed after being convicted of stealing oil and laundering money in 2010. He had been in prison since 2003 when he was arrested and later convicted on charges of tax evasion. He was due to be released in August 2014.
President Vladimir Putin has announced he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The Russian president said he had received a request from Mikhail Khodorkovsky – in custody for a decade – to pardon him on humanitarian grounds as his mother is ill.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s representatives said they needed to meet him before commenting but that the family would be “elated to see him finally freed”.
On Wednesday, MPs backed a wide-ranging amnesty for at least 20,000 prisoners.
Speaking to reporters after his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Vladimir Putin confirmed the amnesty would apply to the two members of punk band Pussy Riot still in prison and Greenpeace activists detained for their protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.
Analysts say Vladimir Putin may be trying to ease international criticism of Russia’s human rights record ahead of February’s Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Mikhail 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.
As head of the now defunct oil giant Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once Russia’s richest man.
President Vladimir Putin has announced he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Vladimir Putin said he had not received a request from Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the past.
“And then quite recently he wrote such a document and addressed a request for a pardon to me,” Vladimir 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,” Vladimir Putin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP news agency the request had been personally “signed” by Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s mother, Marina, said she did not know about any clemency request by her son.
“I spoke to Mikhail last Saturday for about three minutes, but we did not discuss this. He only asked about my health,” she said.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky is currently scheduled to leave jail next August. His supporters have long argued he is a political prisoner.
A statement from his press centre reads: “Until his legal team can meet with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, it cannot be commented on whether a request on a pardon was made, by whom and for what reasons.
“All of his family and supporters would of course be elated to see him finally free after 10 years of imprisonment.”
The amnesty passed in the State Duma on Wednesday covers at least 20,000 prisoners, including minors, disabled people, veterans, pregnant women and mothers.
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