The surprise news came after Mr Putin had already spent four hours at a press conference discussing other topics.
Mr Putin said the former top executive of the Yukos oil company Mikhail Kodorkovsky (pictured) had asked for a pardon and could soon be free:
'Just recently he wrote such a paper and addressed an appeal for pardon to me. He has already spent more than 10 years behind bars. It's a tough punishment. He's citing humanitarian reasons, his mother is ill.
'I think that taking into account all these circumstances, it is possible to make the relevant decision.
'A decree to pardon him will be signed in the nearest time.'
Mr Khodorkovsky was due to be released in August 2014, and his lawyer was quick to deny that any such request for a pardon had been made. His mother Marina, who turns 80 next year, told reporters 'I want to believe he will pardon him.. I want to believe Putin is not totally lost.'
Speaking to Channel 4 News John Lough, associate fellow at the Chatham House Russian and Eurasian Programme, said it was not clear if Mr Khorkorkovsky would have to admit his guilt in order for any pardon to go through: 'I find it hard to believe that he'd be let out without having to give something on his part.'
However, the news of his possible release triggered a rise in the level of the Russian stock market. Investors have been increasingly worried about political freedoms and Russia's ability to reform its economy.
An economist from a Moscow-based bank told Reuters: 'It is quite likely that [his release] will give a short-term boost to investors' perception of Russia, particularly US investor perception.
'It was always an easy win for Putin to let him out, because he is not popular and he does not have significant resources, but his being in prison does generate bad PR.'
Mr Putin's announcement comes just a day after the Russian parliament passed an amnesty law that is expected to lead to the freeing of the two jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band and the dropping of legal proceedings against Greenpeace activists arrested while protesting against Russian oil drilling in the Arctic.
Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Director John Dalhuisen dismissed the move, saying 'this amnesty law is no subsitute for an effective independent justice system. Indeed, it is further proof of the politicisation of justice in Russia.'
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, December 21, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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