© Michael Sohn/Associated PressMikhail Khodorkovsky hopes to unite pro-European Russians against Vladimir Putin.
The former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in jail after challenging the Kremlin, says he would be ready to lead Russia if called upon.
Khodorkovsky's statement, at the launch of an online movement called Open Russia, appears to break his promise to steer clear of politics, which he made after being pardoned by president Vladimir Putin in December.
"I would not be interested in the idea of becoming president of Russia at a time when the country would be developing normally," he was quoted as saying by Le Monde newspaper.
Comment: Of course not. Psychopaths crave the opportunities created by chaotic situations. Khodorkovsky made his billions in the aftermath of the economic mess created by the fall of the Soviet Union.
"But if it appeared necessary to overcome the crisis and to carry out constitutional reform, the essence of which would be to redistribute presidential powers in favour of the judiciary, parliament and civil society, then I would be ready to take on this part of the task."
Open Russia is intended to unite pro-European Russians in a bid to challenge Putin's grip on power.
"A minority will be influential if it is organised," Khodorkovsky said during a ceremony broadcast online from Paris.
Khodorkovsky and his allies said political change could come quickly and insisted the time had come to think of Russia's future after Putin.
He stressed that his project - named after his charity that was shut down after his imprisonment - would be an online "platform" for like-minded people, not a political party.
But he did not anticipate Putin would approve.
"I expect him to be upset," Khodorkovsky said.
Russian activists and prominent emigres including Paris-based economist Sergei Guriyev and London-based businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin - both of whom fled the country under pressure from security services - joined the online ceremony.
Khodorkovsky, who lives in Switzerland with his family, openly supported the Ukrainian uprising that ousted a Moscow-backed president in February, but indicated he did not want a bloody revolt for Russia.
The former head of the defunct Yukos oil firm said all those supporting a pro-European course for Russia should before parliamentary elections scheduled for 2016.
"We support what they call the European choice or a state governed by the rule of law," he said.
"We believe that the statement 'Russia is not Europe' is a lie that is being imposed on society on purpose.
"This is being done by those who want to rule the country for life, those who want to spit upon law and justice," Khodorkovsky said in a thinly veiled reference to Putin.
Comment: Psychopaths accuse others of what they do.
"We are Europe, both in terms of geography and culture.
"We are not simply Russian Europeans. We are patriots. And true patriots even during pitch-dark reactionary times should serve their country and their people."
Khodorkovsky's supporters expressed hopes his project would raise awareness among Russians and help them see through state propaganda.
"It is time to open our mouths," Chichvarkin said.
"We are ahead of a long, hard and dangerous path," the former deputy finance minister and economist Sergei Aleksashenko said.
Russian state media appeared to enforce a blackout on news coverage of Khodorkovky's project.
His spokeswoman Olga Pispanen said the project's website, openrussia.org, became the target of distributed denial of service attacks.
Attempts to prevent activists from joining the ceremony were reported in the central Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl.
While many scoffed at Khodorkovsky's effort to rally Russians while in exile, some said the project could pay off in the long run.
"Such a project is sorely needed," political analyst Mark Urnov said, calling it an "antidote" to the country's grim reality.
Via Agence France-Presse
This evil rag spewing zionist-anglo empire-approved crap isn't worth lining the canary cage with.
Sadly, however, the sheeples are easily misled, and likewise, easily lead into xenophobia, in this case Russophobia and Putophobia (i.e., fear of Vladimir Putin.) Thankfully, The Guardian is there to help reinforce these memes into the minds of their readers.
Forget Vlad "The Hammer" Putin. What has he done to protect Russian interests? Listen to the Guardian: Russia desperately needs to be run by a cabal of criminal Jewish oligarchs who will up and dash off to The Cancer (Israel) as soon as anyone tries to stop them from freely pillaging the resources of the Russian nation and peoples.
What Russia needs is a real leader like Mikhail Khodorkovsky!
Similar to that wonderful peace-loving oligarch from the Ukraine, 'Killer' Kolomoisky, the equally passive and kitten-like Mikhail Khodorkovsky lives quite comfortably in Switzerland, too. They might even be neighbors.
Gosh, it's nice to see such committed, ardent nationalists, cheering and funding the neo-liberal "Russian" and "Ukrainian" opposition and 'democracy activist' NGOs from far away Switzerland. Really, 'right there, in the thick of it', aren't they?
Moreover, the Guardian article almost invites an opposition in Russia via this Khodorkovsky's quaint little NGO creation: "Open Russia". (More like, "Open Russia to economic rape and pillage just like the good old days under Yeltsin!")
Clearly, from The Guardian article one can see that Russia needs many more of these NGO-based and funded 'democracy' activists and groups, all working to 'open up Russia' to Europe.
Wow, sounds just like the Ukraine's recent history and the lead up to the Maidan massacre and the bullet and bomb-laden orgy of 'democracy' that immediately flowed eastward from the 'new' Ukrainian leaders installed in Kiev by the zionist-anglo coalition. Just get others to do your bloody, de-stabilizing work for you, and all is well.
Ah, yes. As Roger Waters of Pink Floyd so aptly penned: "The bravery of being out of range."
Brave, indeed!
(And oh, so patriotic....... )