A Russian court has reduced former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's jail sentence for embezzlement by two years, clearing the way for one of Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics to walk free in October 2014.
Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, is serving a 13-year sentence near the Arctic circle on charges of multi-million dollar tax evasion and money laundering. It was not immediately clear if today's ruling can be overturned on appeal.
His Yukos oil company was broken up and sold off, mainly into state hands, after his arrest in 2003. Khodorkovsky, who is now 49, had appeared to defy calls by the president for rich businessmen, or oligarchs, not to get involved in politics.
Putin once dismissed Khodorkovsky's case by saying thieves must sit in jail. But asked about the ruling today, he said he bore no grudge against him and said he had not played any role in the court's decision.
"As for Mikhail Borisovich (Khodorkovsky), there was no personal persecution ... This is a purely an economic crime. The court took its decision," Putin told his annual news conference.
"As regards my opinion that a thief must sit in jail, who is against that? Should he walk the streets?," he...
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