September 16, 2005

Jailed Russian Tycoon Khodorkovsky to Stand in By-Election

A lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky said that his client had sent his application to run in a parliamentary by-election in December from prison, marking the first stage in what observers say is a challenge to the Kremlin. Anton Drel said he had been notified by the head of the prison in northeast Moscow that the documents had been dispatched on September 14. However, as of late afternoon on September 16, the election commission in the Moscow district where Khodorkovsky plans to contest a seat had not received his application.

(Source: The Associated Press. A similar story was published by Dow Jones.)