Recently freed after serving more than ten years in a Russian jail, former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky appealed to western governments to help him campaign for the release of other political prisoners, The Daily Telegraph reported.
"I hope they remember that I am not the last political prisoner in Russia," Khodorkovsky said at his first major news conference in Berlin Germany.
Khodorkovsky has said he will rule out a potential career in formal opposition politics, but rather will focus exclusively on campaigning for the release of dissidents throughout the world.
The former oil tycoon said that "he hoped pro-Kremlin government would follow [President Vladirmir] Putin's example and release the former prime minister, Yula Tymoshenko. She is currently in jail on what diplomats say are trumped up charges of abuse of public office," The Telegraph also reported.
"Whether or not I asked for a pardon or not, was from Mr Putin's point of view purely a formality. What was not a formality was to admit guilt. If I were to admit to a crime that I do not consider a crime... That is why in the past five years I have constantly rejected suggestions of a pardon because it would entail admitting my guilt," Khodorkovsky said.
Khodorkovsy had been estimated to be worth more than 10 billion Euro, and had been one of the richest men in the world. He earned a huge bulk of his fortune by acquiring Yukos, one of Russia's largest oil firms.
"He then fell out with Putin in 2003 over the issue of corruption in the Russian energy sector," according to news reports. His political ambitions were seen as a threat, which led to his arrest for tax evasion and money-laundering related charges.
Putin told reporters last Thursday that Khodorkovsky applied for the pardon because his mother's health is deteriorating. He granted the request.
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