Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he intends to pardon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, his country's most famous political prisoner, in a broad amnesty that comes just weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The amnesty is expected to free hundreds of prisoners, including two Pussy Riot performers, 30 people plucked from a Greenpeace protest in the Arctic and Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon and one of Putin's most despised enemies. Each case, starting with Khodorkovsky's 10 years ago, became emblematic of Putin's intention to impose absolute control over his country, its courts and its powerful billionaires.
Their proposed release sends a strong and unexpected message to the West.