Wednesday, 23^rd November 2016: Mikhail Khodorkovsky has filed a Section 19 application requesting the Irish District Court to unfreeze two separate investment funds, worth in excess of $100 million, located in Ireland.  Mr Khodorkovsky is one of several people with a beneficial interest in these funds.  The District Court hearing is currently underway, week commencing 21^st November.

The funds were frozen in 2011, while Khodorkovsky was in a Russian prison, in connection with the verdict handed down by the Khamovnichesky court which attracted criticism in Russia and throughout the world.

The parties involved in the hearing are refraining from any further public comments so as not to prejudice the final outcome. Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s position is set out in an interview and article in the Irish Times.

Mr Khodorkovsky is the former head, and majority shareholder, of Yukos Oil, one of the world’s largest oil producers.  He spent over 10 years in jail (2003-2013) on politically motivated charges.  In May 2011, he was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.  A pioneering philanthropist, he established the Open Russia Foundation in 2001 with the aim of building and strengthening civil society in Russia.

Today, Mr Khodorkovsky advocates an alternative vision for his country: a strong and just state, committed to observing human rights, free and fair elections and the rule of law.

In 2014, he founded the Open Russia movement.

For more information please email info@khodorkovsky.com