"The struggle for power is not for me," Khodorkovsky told a news conference in Berlin, where he travelled after his release from prison on Friday following a pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
Khodorkovsky also said he hopes Putin will not stay in power for life and urged Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich to follow Putin's example and free opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
The former Yukos oil company chief said he is in a good financial situation and does not intend to go back into business.
The former billionaire oil tycoon was appearing before the world's media at the Berlin Wall Museum, close to the historic Checkpoint Charlie site, a former Cold War crossing point from East to West.
[SUP]Photo: Voice of Russia[/SUP]
Despite being in prison for 10 years after being convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement, Khodorkovsky maintained that his pardon and release on Friday by Putin was "not a sign of fundamental change" in Russia.
"The authorities always wanted a confession of guilt from me, but that was unacceptable for me," Khodorkovsky said, adamantly maintaining that he did not sign any written confession of guilt to obtain a pardon.
Khodorkovsky's jail term was to have ended in August 2014. Critics have called his conviction politically motivated, noting that Khodorkovsky had funded the Russian opposition before his arrest.
In the decree, Putin said he was "guided by the principles of humanity" in pardoning Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, whose mother is suffering from cancer and has had treatment in Germany, had expressed fears he would not see her alive again.
Khodorkovsky, who has been given a one-year German visa, thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for what he said was her role in helping to secure his release.
"She made it possible for me to be free today," he said. Former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher met Putin twice for discussions about Khodorkovsky, it emerged earlier.
Khodorkovsky, who also thanked the media who had covered his case over the years, said he did not know how long he would stay in Germany.
And asked if he would return to Russia, he said that - if he did - there was no guarantee that the Russian authorities would let him leave again.
In response to another question, he said he did not believe the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia February should be damaged in any way by opponents of the Russian government.
"Millions of people will celebrate the games, and that should not be damaged. But neither should the games be used as a great party for President Putin," he said.
Repsonding to another question, he said it was not up to him to advise the leaders of Western governments how they should behave towards Putin, whom he described as "difficult."
[SUP]Photo: Voice of Russia[/SUP]
Khodorkovsky unclear about the length of his German stay
Freed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky told a news conference in Berlin on Sunday he did not know how long he would be staying in Germany - though he had a one-year visa.
Asked if he would return to Russia, he said he had no guarantee that if he did, he would be allowed to leave again.
Khodorkovsky gives credit to Merkel, media for his release
Freed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khordokovsky gave thanks on Sunday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her role in securing his release from prison.
Read also: - Mikhail Khodorkovsky: biography
He told a news conference: "She made it possible for me to be free today."
Khodorkovsky also paid tribute to the media, who he said had highlighted his case over the years, saying "public opinion, world opinion, the media made it possible."
Khodorkovsky says won't finance Russian opposition
Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky does not intend to finance the Russian opposition, his press center reports on Twitter citing Khodorkovsky’s statement at a closed-door press conference in Berlin.
Meeting with a small group of reporters in the German capital on Sunday less than two days after being released from prison on pardon, the former Yukos owner said that it would grieve him to be perceived as a sponsor of the opposition, which he used to be.
I don't want to waste my time on power struggle - Khodorkovsky
Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said that the question of involvement in politics is closed to him.
"There is no question of politics, if politics is understood as struggle for power, for me either. I am not interested or willing to take the way politicians in Russia have to a stance that is not quite frank. I believe that I have won for myself one right which is worth much - the right not to say what I don't think," he said to journalists on Sunday.
Khodorkovsky added that he does not intend to engage in business. "The question of business is closed to me, including from the point of view of fighting for my previous assets. I will not take part in it for the simple reason that I don't want to waste my time on that," he added.
Khodorkovsky says cannot currently return to Russia
Russia's freed former richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Sunday said he was currently unable to return to Russia due to a court order to pay over half a billion dollars dating back to his first conviction in 2005.
Khodorkovsky said that the court order for him to pay $550 million in damages was still in place and if he came back to Russia "the Russian law has the power of not allowing me to leave for abroad," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying in Berlin.
He also noted that work to protest court sentences will continue former, Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has told journalists.
"I am convinced that even if we fail now [to have the sentences cancelled], the time will come when we will succeed. I will be working on that. This concerns criminal charges. The subject of company assets doesn't interest me," he said.
Before the main press conference Khodorkovsky talked to a small group of journalists.
"I believe it [political motivation] is apparent even to the European Court of Human Rights, though I don't know whether it will recognize it," he said.
The charges brought against him "were so phantasmagoric that it would be possible to account them to other than political reasons probably by recognizing that the people working for the special services are not quite sane. But they are not simply sane but also quite powerful," Khodorkovsky said.
Khodorkovsky's additional press conference set for 10 am GMT
The freed Russian ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is expected to hold a closed-doors press meeting with a chosen few ahead of the official big conference, which is set for Sunday noon.
The smaller meeting will reportedly kick off at 10 am GMT (2 pm MSK), followed by the pre-announced gathering at the Berlin Wall Museum in the German capital.
Khodorkovsky to give press conference on Sunday noon
Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will hold a news conference in Berlin at 12:00 GMT Sunday, two days after being set free from a remote prison in Karelia by a surprise pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will hold a news conference in Berlin at 12:00 GMT Sunday, two days after being set free from a remote prison in Karelia by a surprise pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
According to the businessman's spokesperson in Moscow, Khodorkovsky will address reporters at a museum devoted to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The spokesman refused to provide further details. The oligarch’s Berlin speech will mark his first public appearance following the Friday release.
Khodorkovsky gives first interview after being freed from jail
In his first interview after being pardoned and freed from jail, former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky described the feeling to the Moscow political magazine "The New Times."
"After 10 years, it's an unbelievable feeling of freedom," Khodorkovsky said. "The most important thing is now: Freedom, freedom, freedom!"
Khodorkovsky, 50, gave the interview via video from Berlin to chief editor Evgeniya Albaz, and described some of his prison conditions.
He revealed some of his day-to-day during his long prison years, describing how he was allowed to sleep in a proper bed three days every quarter - in a room specially furnished for family visits.
Khodorkovsky, who met his parents in Berlin on Saturday for the first time in a decade outside prison, appeared to be overwhelmed by the change and new impressions after all the years in prison - to the point that he could not really grasp that he was free.
At one point, he says "here" - referring to the prison that he had left on Friday.
Albaz also published photos of the slender Khodorkovsky wearing rimless glasses in his room in the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. Up to his release on Friday, Russia's most prominent political prisoner wrote frequently for New Times about daily life in the prison as well as political court cases going on in Russia.
Read more:
- Khodorkovsky vows to stay out of politics, won't reclaim Yukos assets
- Ex-oil tycoon Khodorkovsky is free to return to Russia - Putin's spokesman
- Khodorkovsky’s parents arrive in Berlin to meet their son
- Khodorkovsky meets with son in Berlin - press secretary
- Khodorkovsky’s release 'a positive step' - Obama
- Khodorkovsky free – what next?
- Khodorkovsky 'is just extremely happy to be free and looking forward to seeing his family'
- Russia’s Khodorkovsky arrives in Berlin, headed for Switzerland
Voice of Russia, AFP, Interfax, TASS, Times of India, Reuters, dpa
Khodorkovsky also said he hopes Putin will not stay in power for life and urged Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich to follow Putin's example and free opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
The former Yukos oil company chief said he is in a good financial situation and does not intend to go back into business.
The former billionaire oil tycoon was appearing before the world's media at the Berlin Wall Museum, close to the historic Checkpoint Charlie site, a former Cold War crossing point from East to West.
[SUP]Photo: Voice of Russia[/SUP]
Despite being in prison for 10 years after being convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement, Khodorkovsky maintained that his pardon and release on Friday by Putin was "not a sign of fundamental change" in Russia.
"The authorities always wanted a confession of guilt from me, but that was unacceptable for me," Khodorkovsky said, adamantly maintaining that he did not sign any written confession of guilt to obtain a pardon.
Khodorkovsky's jail term was to have ended in August 2014. Critics have called his conviction politically motivated, noting that Khodorkovsky had funded the Russian opposition before his arrest.
In the decree, Putin said he was "guided by the principles of humanity" in pardoning Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky, whose mother is suffering from cancer and has had treatment in Germany, had expressed fears he would not see her alive again.
Khodorkovsky, who has been given a one-year German visa, thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for what he said was her role in helping to secure his release.
"She made it possible for me to be free today," he said. Former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher met Putin twice for discussions about Khodorkovsky, it emerged earlier.
Khodorkovsky, who also thanked the media who had covered his case over the years, said he did not know how long he would stay in Germany.
And asked if he would return to Russia, he said that - if he did - there was no guarantee that the Russian authorities would let him leave again.
In response to another question, he said he did not believe the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia February should be damaged in any way by opponents of the Russian government.
"Millions of people will celebrate the games, and that should not be damaged. But neither should the games be used as a great party for President Putin," he said.
Repsonding to another question, he said it was not up to him to advise the leaders of Western governments how they should behave towards Putin, whom he described as "difficult."
[SUP]Photo: Voice of Russia[/SUP]
Khodorkovsky unclear about the length of his German stay
Freed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky told a news conference in Berlin on Sunday he did not know how long he would be staying in Germany - though he had a one-year visa.
Asked if he would return to Russia, he said he had no guarantee that if he did, he would be allowed to leave again.
Khodorkovsky gives credit to Merkel, media for his release
Freed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khordokovsky gave thanks on Sunday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her role in securing his release from prison.
Read also: - Mikhail Khodorkovsky: biography
He told a news conference: "She made it possible for me to be free today."
Khodorkovsky also paid tribute to the media, who he said had highlighted his case over the years, saying "public opinion, world opinion, the media made it possible."
Khodorkovsky says won't finance Russian opposition
Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky does not intend to finance the Russian opposition, his press center reports on Twitter citing Khodorkovsky’s statement at a closed-door press conference in Berlin.
Meeting with a small group of reporters in the German capital on Sunday less than two days after being released from prison on pardon, the former Yukos owner said that it would grieve him to be perceived as a sponsor of the opposition, which he used to be.
I don't want to waste my time on power struggle - Khodorkovsky
Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said that the question of involvement in politics is closed to him.
"There is no question of politics, if politics is understood as struggle for power, for me either. I am not interested or willing to take the way politicians in Russia have to a stance that is not quite frank. I believe that I have won for myself one right which is worth much - the right not to say what I don't think," he said to journalists on Sunday.
Khodorkovsky added that he does not intend to engage in business. "The question of business is closed to me, including from the point of view of fighting for my previous assets. I will not take part in it for the simple reason that I don't want to waste my time on that," he added.
Khodorkovsky says cannot currently return to Russia
Russia's freed former richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Sunday said he was currently unable to return to Russia due to a court order to pay over half a billion dollars dating back to his first conviction in 2005.
Khodorkovsky said that the court order for him to pay $550 million in damages was still in place and if he came back to Russia "the Russian law has the power of not allowing me to leave for abroad," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying in Berlin.
He also noted that work to protest court sentences will continue former, Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has told journalists.
"I am convinced that even if we fail now [to have the sentences cancelled], the time will come when we will succeed. I will be working on that. This concerns criminal charges. The subject of company assets doesn't interest me," he said.
Before the main press conference Khodorkovsky talked to a small group of journalists.
"I believe it [political motivation] is apparent even to the European Court of Human Rights, though I don't know whether it will recognize it," he said.
The charges brought against him "were so phantasmagoric that it would be possible to account them to other than political reasons probably by recognizing that the people working for the special services are not quite sane. But they are not simply sane but also quite powerful," Khodorkovsky said.
Khodorkovsky's additional press conference set for 10 am GMT
The freed Russian ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is expected to hold a closed-doors press meeting with a chosen few ahead of the official big conference, which is set for Sunday noon.
The smaller meeting will reportedly kick off at 10 am GMT (2 pm MSK), followed by the pre-announced gathering at the Berlin Wall Museum in the German capital.
Khodorkovsky to give press conference on Sunday noon
Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will hold a news conference in Berlin at 12:00 GMT Sunday, two days after being set free from a remote prison in Karelia by a surprise pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
Russia's former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will hold a news conference in Berlin at 12:00 GMT Sunday, two days after being set free from a remote prison in Karelia by a surprise pardon from President Vladimir Putin.
According to the businessman's spokesperson in Moscow, Khodorkovsky will address reporters at a museum devoted to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The spokesman refused to provide further details. The oligarch’s Berlin speech will mark his first public appearance following the Friday release.
Khodorkovsky gives first interview after being freed from jail
In his first interview after being pardoned and freed from jail, former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky described the feeling to the Moscow political magazine "The New Times."
"After 10 years, it's an unbelievable feeling of freedom," Khodorkovsky said. "The most important thing is now: Freedom, freedom, freedom!"
Khodorkovsky, 50, gave the interview via video from Berlin to chief editor Evgeniya Albaz, and described some of his prison conditions.
He revealed some of his day-to-day during his long prison years, describing how he was allowed to sleep in a proper bed three days every quarter - in a room specially furnished for family visits.
Khodorkovsky, who met his parents in Berlin on Saturday for the first time in a decade outside prison, appeared to be overwhelmed by the change and new impressions after all the years in prison - to the point that he could not really grasp that he was free.
At one point, he says "here" - referring to the prison that he had left on Friday.
Albaz also published photos of the slender Khodorkovsky wearing rimless glasses in his room in the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. Up to his release on Friday, Russia's most prominent political prisoner wrote frequently for New Times about daily life in the prison as well as political court cases going on in Russia.
Read more:
- Khodorkovsky vows to stay out of politics, won't reclaim Yukos assets
- Ex-oil tycoon Khodorkovsky is free to return to Russia - Putin's spokesman
- Khodorkovsky’s parents arrive in Berlin to meet their son
- Khodorkovsky meets with son in Berlin - press secretary
- Khodorkovsky’s release 'a positive step' - Obama
- Khodorkovsky free – what next?
- Khodorkovsky 'is just extremely happy to be free and looking forward to seeing his family'
- Russia’s Khodorkovsky arrives in Berlin, headed for Switzerland
Voice of Russia, AFP, Interfax, TASS, Times of India, Reuters, dpa