Jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky today appealed to a Russian court for early release from his eight-year prison sentence for tax evasion and fraud, his lawyers said.
Khodorkovsky's 2005 conviction became a symbol of the then-president Vladimir Putin's crusade against tycoons he accused of seeking to grab political power.
The fate of his appeal for release, which follows new charges of embezzlement and money laundering, is broadly seen as a test of new president Dmitry Medvedev's stated commitment to establishing a "rule of law" in Russia.
"This is not an admission of guilt, not a confession," Khodorkovsky's chief defence lawyer Yuri Schmidt told a Moscow news conference of the appeal. Khodorkovsky has consistently rejected all accusations against him.
Khodorkovsky (45), once Russia's richest man, said in his appeal "my quarter-century work record, successful job experience in various capacities and large family all guarantee my proper settlement after release."
He said he met the conditions for early release, including having served more than half his sentence, as well as "diligently having worked in prison," but emphasized throughout that he was neither admitting guilt nor asking for a pardon.
In June Mr Medvedev told reporters in Germany that "the procedures for a pardon are open to any and all citizens convicted of one or another crime, including Khodorkovsky."
Mr Schmidt said he expected opponents of Khodorkovsky to obstruct his request for early release, despite Mr Medvedev's call for judicial independence.
Mr Medvedev, a former corporate lawyer, has ordered steps to root out widespread corruption in the judicial system. Legal experts and lawyers say Russian judges routinely come under outside pressure - from businessmen offering bribes, or from officials - to hand down judgements at odds with the law.
Reuters