Putin to pardon imprisoned oil tycoon Khodorkovsky

Russia President Vladimir Putin says he will soon pardon jailed former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on humanitarian grounds, as his mother is ill.

Alongside fellow defendant Platon Lebedev, 50-year-old Khodorkovsky was convicted of stealing oil and laundering money in 2010. They were already serving time for tax evasion.

Khodorkovsky's representatives said they needed to meet him before commenting but that the family would be "elated to see him finally freed".

On Wednesday, MPs backed a wide-ranging amnesty for at least 20,000 prisoners.

Speaking to reporters after his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Mr Putin confirmed the amnesty would apply to the two members of punk band Pussy Riot still in prison and Greenpeace activists detained for their protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.

Analysts say Mr Putin may be trying to ease international criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of February's Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Putin said that given the circumstances, he can take the decision to pardon Khodorkovsky very soon as he is referring to humanitarian circumstances as his mother is ill.

"He has already been in detention more than 10 years, and I think given the circumstances we can take the decision and very soon the decree to pardon him will be signed," Mr Putin said.

As head of the now defunct oil giant Yukos, Khodorkovsky was once Russia's wealthiest man.