Top Russian officials are not following Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s statements, and say the former oil magnate and convict has no right to moralize, Vladimir Putin’s press secretary has said.
“We are not following Mr. Khodorkovsky’s statements or speeches. He has been in prison for so long that he has completely lost connection with reality,” the Interfax news agency quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying. “He has absolutely no moral right to lecture us,” the official added.
Once Russia’s richest businessman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky served 10 years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. In December 2013 he was pardoned by President Putin and left Russia for Germany to see his elderly mother.
Sometime after his release Khodorkovsky started making ambitious political statements, like plans to run for Russian president, and the intention to support independent candidates and watchdog groups at the next parliamentary elections, due in 2016.