MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- An imprisoned former oil tycoon said Wednesday the European Court of Human Rights was trying to placate Russia when it ruled his prosecution was not political.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos, told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat the court fears it will not be able to enforce its rulings in Russia if it challenges Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Khodorkovsky, potentially a Putin political rival, was given an eight-year jail term for fraud in 2003 when Putin was president.
"I understand the European court's motives, which ruled that political motives behind my detention and arrest, though obvious and publicly admitted even by Russian state officials, were nevertheless not proven," Khodorkovsky said.
The Grand Chamber of the court said in a statement in December it would not reverse the court's May decision that there was no proof of political motivation in the prosecution. The court did find Khodorkovsky's rights were violated during his detention in 2003.
