Mikhail Khodorkovsky urges release of Russia's political prisoners

With Khodorkovsky’s release, 

Putin got what he wanted all along  

by Leon Aron

... this was a decision from which Putin had to have profited politically.

• For one, Putin has always wanted Khodorkovsky to pledge an end to his involvement in politics forever.
• Secondly, Khodorkovsky had to leave Russia physically.

Both conditions have been offered to Khodorkovsky repeatedly – and rejected by him.

Khodorkovsky has just arrived in Germany. 

By maintaining the possibility of a third trial and another lengthy sentence as very real, Putin appears to have gotten what he wanted all along: the elimination from Russia’s political scene of a powerful rival and a potential national pro-democracy leader.

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