Karelian Pardon Commission Requires a Pardon Request from Khodorkovsky
April 10, 2012
Interfax reports that Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s release will only be considered by the Karelian pardon commission if he personally requests a pardon from the Russian president, according Andrei Nelidov, the regional governor of Karelia, where the former Yukos boss is currently imprisoned.
Nelidov holds that the Karelian pardon commission has the authority to pardon Khodorkovsky, and his statement appeared in a letter to the Russian PEN Center, a writer’s association, which has appealed to President Dmitry Medvedev to pardon Khodorkovsky.
Nelidov’s letter can be seen on the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev website.
