MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amnesty papers of detained oligarch Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky, the ex chairman of Yukos Oil Company, the Kremlin's webpage published on Friday.
Khodorkovsky's amnesty petition was submitted to Putin on Thursday in light of his mother's illness and was signed Friday by Putin. This amnesty will see his immediate release from prison where he is serving his sentence and was due to be released in 2017.
Putin commented on Thursday that Khodorkovsky has been in jail for 10 ten years and added that "This is a serious punishment. His mother is sick. I think that the document regarding Khodorkovsky's amnesty will be signed soon."
Khodorkovsky was arrested on 25 October 2003 by the Russian authorities and sentenced for 9 years in prison for tax evasion. Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev were further charged and found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering in December 2010, extending his prison sentence to 2017.
He lodged several applications to the European Court of Human Rights, seeking redress for alleged violations by Russia of his human rights.
In particular, the court ruled that Khodorkovsky's arrest was "unlawful as it had been made with a purpose different from the one expressed."
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