Ex-tycoon plans to devote life to freeing political prisoners

Associated Press

BERLIN

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian oligarch who crossed President Vladimir Putin and ended up in jail for a decade, says he plans to devote his life to securing the freedom of the country’s political prisoners.

At a packed news conference just two days after his surprise release from a Russian jail, Khodorkovsky said Sunday that he wants to pay back all those who had worked so hard for his own release. But he dismissed any suggestion that he might take a leading role in Russian politics, a move that would have catapulted him from being Russia’s most prominent political prisoner to being Putin’s main sparring partner.

“The time that is left for me is time I would like to devote to the activity of paying back my debts to the people ... and by that I mean the people who are still in prison,” the 50-year-old former oil tycoon said, naming several business associates who remain behind bars in Russia.

However, Khodorkovsky said he would not be “involved in the struggle for power” in Russia, nor fund opposition parties.

This may come as a relief to Putin, who has introduced a series of laws in recent years aimed at stifling the efforts of his political opponents.