Bloomberg reports that Russia’s commissioner for business rights believes freeing Mikhail Khodorkovsky as part of an amnesty program for people convicted of economic crimes would send a positive signal to investors.
Boris Titov, interviewed at last week’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum , said he will proposed that President Putin grant amnesty to some 13,000 people jailed for economic crimes, including Khodorkovsky:
For the investment climate, [releasing Khodorkovsky] would be good news. This should be just and the right decision. [Khodorkovsky] has been in prison too long. He did something, others also did, but nobody else is serving such a sentence.
While it’s doubtful that Titov’s views will come to fruition any time soon, the fact that he is pledging to improve the way the state handles economic crimes is a positive sign.
