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| MOSCOW — Taking a cue from President Vladimir V. Putin’s support of amnesties and pardons before the Winter Olympics, the Russian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the business partner of the former oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky should be released from prison. | MOSCOW — Taking a cue from President Vladimir V. Putin’s support of amnesties and pardons before the Winter Olympics, the Russian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the business partner of the former oil tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky should be released from prison. |
| Mr. Putin pardoned Mr. Khodorkovsky in December. The ruling regarding his business partner, Platon A. Lebedev, came three months before his scheduled release date, after he had served 10 years and six months in prison. | |
| It was handed down two weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics as Russian officials have been putting the finishing touches on sports venues and making last-minute efforts to improve the country’s image during the Games, including the release of political prisoners. | |
| Although rights groups had called for the release of both Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev, the ruling to free Mr. Lebedev seems unlikely to assuage a central concern raised by the high-profile case. Critics have said all along that the Russian courts, including the Supreme Court, are effectively subordinate to the political demands of the Kremlin in spite of their ostensible independence, a criticism illustrated by Mr. Lebedev’s release as much as by his imprisonment. | Although rights groups had called for the release of both Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev, the ruling to free Mr. Lebedev seems unlikely to assuage a central concern raised by the high-profile case. Critics have said all along that the Russian courts, including the Supreme Court, are effectively subordinate to the political demands of the Kremlin in spite of their ostensible independence, a criticism illustrated by Mr. Lebedev’s release as much as by his imprisonment. |
| The two businessmen were convicted of tax evasion and fraud in 2005 and their sentences were extended in a second trial five years later. The ruling by the presidium of the Supreme Court touched on an aspect of the first case. | |
| The judges decided on Thursday that by the time of the trial in 2005, the statute of limitations had expired on what prosecutors said was fraud during the privatization of a mineral fertilizer business in 1995. They reduced Mr. Lebedev’s sentence to time served, meaning he could be released from a penal colony as soon as the paperwork reached the facility where he is held, the Interfax news agency reported. The court declined to waive a tax fine of around $500 million imposed on the two men. | The judges decided on Thursday that by the time of the trial in 2005, the statute of limitations had expired on what prosecutors said was fraud during the privatization of a mineral fertilizer business in 1995. They reduced Mr. Lebedev’s sentence to time served, meaning he could be released from a penal colony as soon as the paperwork reached the facility where he is held, the Interfax news agency reported. The court declined to waive a tax fine of around $500 million imposed on the two men. |
| Mr. Khodorkovsky, who traveled to Germany and then Switzerland after his release, has said he will not return to Russia until this fine is lifted because it could prevent him from leaving again. Under Russian law, border guards can prohibit individuals late in paying debts, including credit card bills or mortgages, from exiting Russia. | |
| The Parliament last year adopted an amnesty formally timed to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the second post-Soviet Russian Constitution. It had the effect of releasing controversial prisoners such as members of the punk protest band Pussy Riot and the jailed crew of a Greenpeace International ship before the Olympic Games begin. | |
| Mr. Putin pardoned Mr. Khodorkovsky under an agreement brokered by prominent Germans, including the former chancellors Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder, and Mr. Khodorkovsky flew to Germany, where he expressed no thanks to Mr. Putin for his release but offered only muted criticism. | Mr. Putin pardoned Mr. Khodorkovsky under an agreement brokered by prominent Germans, including the former chancellors Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder, and Mr. Khodorkovsky flew to Germany, where he expressed no thanks to Mr. Putin for his release but offered only muted criticism. |
| Some have speculated that the still-unsettled question of Mr. Lebedev’s release was a reason Mr. Khodorkovsky was not more vocal in his criticism, lest prosecutors or the courts find reasons to retain his partner in the Russian prison system in response. | Some have speculated that the still-unsettled question of Mr. Lebedev’s release was a reason Mr. Khodorkovsky was not more vocal in his criticism, lest prosecutors or the courts find reasons to retain his partner in the Russian prison system in response. |