In Resigning Oil Post, Jailed Russian Hints at Political Fight -NYT

[goforit]

In Resigning Oil Post, Jailed Russian Hints at Political Fight
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and SABRINA TAVERNISE

Published: November 4, 2003

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/international/europe/04RUSS.html?th>

MOSCOW, Nov. 3 — Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky resigned as chief executive of Russia's richest company, Yukos Oil, on Monday even as he defiantly vowed to continue a public — and possibly a political — campaign "to build an open and truly democratic society in Russia."

Mr. Khodorkovsky, imprisoned since Oct. 25 on charges of embezzlement, fraud and tax evasion, said in a statement that he was stepping aside to shield the company from what he and others have called a politically motivated prosecution.

But two people in a position to explain Mr. Khodorkovsky's thinking said his resignation cleared the way not only for his legal defense but also for a campaign for political office, possibly even a challenge to Vladimir V. Putin in presidential elections scheduled for next March.

Jailhouse campaigns have a precedent in Russia's new and chaotic democracy, but a challenge to Mr. Putin, whose re-election next year has been considered a given, could send politics in Russia's new and chaotic democracy in unpredictable directions. It could also present Russians with a stark choice between two of the country's most influential men, one representing power, the other money.

<snip>

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT