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President Vladimir Putin: Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Khodorkovsky: MOSCOW - Jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will be pardoned, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday in a surprise decision that will let his top foe and Russia's formerly richest man out of prison after more than a decade. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. Putin waited until just after his tightly choreographed annual 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, in a four-hour marathon. FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010 file photo Mikhail Khodorkovsky stands behind a glass enclosure at a court room in Moscow, Russia. President Vladimir Putin says he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky after more than a decade in prison. Putin told reporters after his marathon news conference Thursday Dec. 19, 2013, that Khodorkovsky submitted an appeal for pardon and he intends to grant it. AP Photo/Misha Japaridze, File The move, along with an amnesty for the two jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band and the 30-member crew of a Greenpeace protest ship, appears designed to assuage international criticism of Russia's rights record ahead of February's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Putin's pet project. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.