Irish court unfreezes 100m euros for Khodorkovsky: report

An Irish court on Wednesday released 100 million euros ($107 million) in frozen assets for exiled former Russian oil tycoon and Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Irish Times reported. Dublin District Court judge Timothy Lucey said there were no reasonable grounds for maintaining a freeze on the funds which was imposed in 2011 following an embezzlement ruling against him in Russia. The 53-year-old former oligarch, who spent a decade in prison on controversial charges and now lives mainly in Britain while supporting opposition forces in Russia, welcomed the news. "Mikhail Khodorkovsky welcomed the decision of the Dublin District Court on unfreezing assets of the investment fund of which he is a beneficiary," said a statement from his foundation, Open Russia. "He noted that he will spend a portion of the unfrozen funds to support the work of the Open Russia movement, which he founded in 2014," it said. Andrei Kondakov, head of the International Centre for Legal Protection, which leads Russia's defence on claims relating to Khodorkovsky's former Yukos oil empire, protested the ruling. "The Russian side is extremely surprised by today's decision by the Irish court as it had not been properly informed of Khodorkovsky's appeal," he said. Russia "did not have the chance to take part in the proceedings and provide the necessary evidence on the illegal origin of these funds," he added. Contacted by AFP, Khodorkovsky's Irish lawyer Dara Robinson was not available for comment. Khodorkovsky was convicted two highly controversial tax evasion and fraud trials that were widely seen as the Kremlin's retribution for him getting involved in opposition politics. After he was unexpectedly pardoned by Putin and released in late 2013, Khodorkovsky moved abroad and he now supports various opposition projects in Russia.