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Khodorkovsky's release: Why now and what next?

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The release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (pictured) in December 2013 indicated President Putin's confidence that Khodorkovsky no longer represented a threat. Nevertheless, the manner in which Putin made the announcement suggested that there remained powerful forces in the regime opposed to Khodorkovsky's release. A pardon, unlike amnesty, does not require the State Duma's approval. 

Khodorkovsky's political stature has been somewhat diminished by the circumstances attending his release, allowing President Putin to pose as the moral victor and supreme arbiter.

Khodorkovsky cannot be a hero for Russia's neo-liberal opposition, and would be an uncomfortable interlocutor for those in the West who would have liked him to become an instrument in their struggle against Putin.

Khodorkovsky's thinking along the lines of 'democratic statism' could provide a liberating formula for the developmental impasse in which Russia finds itself.

By Chatham House.

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