Will political amnesty, proposed by the Kremlin’s Human Rights Council, free former oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky from prison, 10 years after he was jailed on charges of fraud and tax evasion?
Or will new charges be leveled that could keep the founder of the Yukos Oil Company in jail for years to come?
Well, it depends who you ask. What is clear is that Russia’s best-known political prisoner, once the richest man in Russia, is in a kind of limbo that has activists and organizations like Amnesty International crying for justice.
Russia watchers have long contended that his imprisonment had more to do with his run-ins with Russian president Vladmir Putin than his business practices, and the second sentence cemented that view among supporters.
Khodorkovsky’s son, Pavel Khodorkovsky, joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to discuss his hopes for his father’s freedom.
A documentary, “Free Khodorkovsky” explores the case. It will be airing on Sunday at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass (more info here). The movie was brought to Boston by 17-year-old activist Ariella Katz of the organization Democracy Is Right for Everyone.
Guest
- Pavel Khodorkovsky, son of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and president of the Institute of Modern Russia.
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