Khodorkovsky granted Schengen visa
Russian oil tycoon and recently released prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been issued a Schengen visa valid for three months, the Swiss embassy in Berlin confirmed on Monday.
The visa allows him to travel freely within the 26-nation Schengen area, which includes Switzerland and much of the European Union, but not Britain.
Citing data and privacy protection, the embassy provided no further information.
The 50-year-old Kremlin critic, whose wife and children live in Switzerland, flew to Berlin on December 20, hours after being pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and released from decade-long imprisonment.
Once the wealthiest man in Russia as owner of the Yukos oil company, Khodorkovsky was imprisoned in 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion.
He was considered by Switzerland and the West to be a political prisoner, since his charges were viewed as a trumped-up warning from Putin to anyone who might defy him.
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