Mikhail Khodorkovsky ’exhausted but happy to be free’ after Putin’s pardon | World news | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/20/mikhail-khodorkovsky-free-putin-pardon-berlin?CMP=twt_gu
Like his arrest in 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s release was akin to a military operation. Then, masked special forces stormed his private jet as it stood refuelling on the tarmac at a Siberian airport. On Friday, he walked free, but his release and subsequent flight to Germany remained shrouded in secrecy.
The former oligarch arrived in Berlin on Friday afternoon, after his surprise pardon by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. He touched down in Schöenefeld airport on a chartered flight, where he was met by former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who had helped organise his travel. The German embassy in Moscow had facilitated the trip, reportedly fast-tracking his visa application.
