MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian prosecutors are seeking an investigation into the content of public remarks by ex-Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky as they may contain calls to extremist activities, the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Malinovsky has sent to the Investigative Committee the results of conclusions made after the analysis of recent statements by Khodorkovsky regarding the situation in Russia.
"These [Khodorkovsky's] remarks have an extremist nature and demand a procedural action under Article 144 of Russia's Criminal Code as they contain characteristic features of public calls for forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional system in the Russian Federation," the statement said.
Arrested on October 25, 2003, Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion before being pardoned.
In December 2013, the Kremlin released a decree that said a pardon for Khodorkovsky had been granted on humanitarian grounds and would be implemented immediately. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he decided to sign the pardon after receiving a request for clemency from Khodorkovsky.
Following his release, Khodorkovsky was issued a three-month Schengen visa by Switzerland, and later a residence permit.
On Wednesday, Khodorkovsky said he had been informed that on December 11 he would be charged in relation to the 1998 murder of the late Russian city of Nefteyugansk Mayor Vladimir Petukhov.
