Putin: Khodorkovsky

Khodorkovsky: 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, according to Times Colonist. Putin said Khodorkovsky, who was set to be released next August, had submitted an appeal for pardon, something he had refused to do before and 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. 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. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.