Russian president says he does not regret pardoning Khodorkovsky
MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has no regrets about his decision to pardon former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
"I have no regrets. And I think that my decision was absolutely right," Putin said at his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"The Russian president said that his "decision [to pardon Khodorkovsky] was governed by humanitarian considerations."
"He wrote then that his mother was seriously ill. You know, mothers are sacred. I say this without any irony. He had served most of his sentence, and what was the point in further holding him there, bearing in mind that he might not have a chance to say his last goodbye to her," Putin said.
When asked about Khodorkovsky's presidential ambitions, Putin said: "Indeed, Mr. Khodorkovsky lodged a request for pardon. In any case, he sent an appropriate document and apparently had no plans to pursue a political career. But when I made the decision to pardon him, I did not think what he could or could not do, whether he would go into politics or not. It is his choice. He has every right to do it just as every citizen of the Russian Federation has. As for certain criteria, including the criteria of qualifying for elections to the highest-ranking posts in the country, may God help him there. Let him work."
Khodorkovsky was pardoned by the Russian president at the end of 2013.