THE jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said yesterday that he was considering running for parliament in December despite the Kremlin’s campaign to quash his political ambitions.

The billionaire’s announcement came after he was moved to an 11-man cell on Tuesday in what his lawyers said was punishment for his criticism of the Kremlin in the media. “I am absolutely confident they will not allow me to run,” Khodorkovsky, 42, said in a statement. “But if I am asked by people whose opinions are important to me, I will agree, although I know that firstly they will not let me win the election, and secondly that new repressions will follow.”

Two liberal opposition leaders confirmed yesterday that they were considering asking the billionaire to stand in a by-election in Moscow’s 201st University electoral district.

Mikhail Zadornov, its representative, gave up his seat to take a managerial post at Vneshtorgbank. Legal experts say that Khodorkovsky is eligible to run as he is still being held in pre-trial detention and his appeal has yet to be heard. But the Central Election Commission could refuse to register him as a candidate on the ground that he was sentenced in May to nine years in prison for tax evasion and fraud. Oleg Vilyashev, deputy head of the Central Election Commission, said: “He has the right but there is a question whether he will be registered.”

Stanislav Belkovsky, director of the National Strategy Institute, described the possible candidature as a “win-win project”. “If he is denied registration, this will prove that the authorities fear him,” Mr Belkovsky said. “If he is registered, he will use the election campaign to criticise the authorities, which will mobilise his supporters and cause a fall in the President’s ratings.” However, analysts agreed that Khodorkovsky would not be granted parliamentary immunity from prosecution. His lawyers claim that as well as being moved he has been deprived of newspapers, TV and a refrigerator that he was allowed in his previous, three-man cell. Prison officials confirmed the move but denied any political motive.

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