Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, has commented on the recent talk of a possible amnesty for entrepreneurs and its relevance to Khodorkovsky and Lebedev:

“Along with the amnesty it is also necessary to improve the institution of parole, and to change the law and legal practice. If the talk about amnesty is not a sham, but a sincere intention to put an end to the arbitrary treatment of entrepreneurship in general, particularly in the field of criminal justice, it is necessary to make changes across the board.

We have accumulated a backlog of arbitrariness, injustice and lawlessness. Amnesty is an act of humanity, generosity and compassion. Unfortunately, in 21^st century Russia these concepts are forgotten. For many years there has been no decent amnesty.

The amnesty, in my opinion, is necessary. I cannot presume whether the amnesty will be applied to Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev – guessing is not for the lawyer. I think that, up to this point there has been a block preventing the release of these people. It is an unwritten rule; there is no guidance on this subject.

If we speak using simple terms, they [Khodorkovsky and Lebedev] have overstayed in prison for all imaginable and unimaginable “sins”. And I mean not what they were convicted for – there is no crime neither in the first nor in the second case. Even in the days of Stalin 10 years would have been an enormous term. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, from whatever position one would like to reason, would have had to be home a long time ago, if we did not live in a cannibalistic state.”

The original comment in Russian can be found on Osobaya Bukva.

Klyuvgant  also explained the specifics of a possible business amnesty on the Russian online television channel, The Rain. His interview (in Russian) can be viewed here, and on his blog on the Echo of Moscow Russian radio station website.