Jailed oil kingpin to run for office

MOSCOW — Seeking to transform himself from jailed tycoon to political heavyweight, former Yukos Oil Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky said yesterday that he plans to run for Parliament from prison.

By targeting an open seat in Moscow's University voting district, one of the most liberal in the country, Khodorkovsky, 42, could be a serious contender.

But given legal obstacles likely to derail his candidacy, Khodorkovsky appeared primarily interested in boosting his claim to a leadership position among opponents of President Vladimir Putin. The businessman's effort also appeared designed to promote cooperation among anti-Kremlin forces on the right and left.

Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, was convicted in May of fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement and sentenced to nine years in prison. But his prosecution was widely viewed as a politically motivated attack by the Kremlin on a potentially powerful opponent. He retains a positive image and popularity among many intellectuals, pro-democracy activists and leaders of parties with a pro-Western orientation.

"I have decided to run for the State Duma from Moscow, from the 201st University district of our capital city," Khodorkovsky said in a statement posted on a Web site run by supporters.

"What I am battling for is not an entry pass to the deputies' cafeteria or an office on Okhotny Ryad Street [where Parliament is located], but for the right of every resident of Russia to proclaim publicly: The current regime in the Kremlin has outlived itself and its days are numbered."

Khodorkovsky can legally run for the seat in the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, as long as his conviction is under appeal. However, it appears likely his appeals may be exhausted by the December election. A Moscow court is due to begin a hearing Sept. 14, and his attorneys have charged that judges are rushing the process to ensure that he cannot be a candidate in December.

A group of politicians and other public figures from the left and right said it had formed a group to back his candidacy. The group included Irina Khakamada, head of Our Choice party, who ran against Putin in last year's presidential contest and is seen as a leading advocate of a Western-style democracy.

Khakamada said in an interview that it was "not realistic" to expect the tycoon to gain a seat in Parliament. But she added that supporting his bid would "allow us once again to see the dynamics of our support base," implying that the move was part of an effort to build a broader opposition coalition.

Material from The Washington Post is included in this report.