Switzerland has granted a three-month visa to Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has been staying in a German luxury hotel since his release from a Russian prison.
Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon, was jailed for 10 years for financial crimes but pardoned over a week ago by President Vladimir Putin in a deal that Germany helped broker behind the scenes.
Khodorkovsky, who has said he would stay out of Russia, has been mulling a move to Switzerland where his wife Inna lives and his twin sons go to school, his spokeswoman said last week.
On Monday the Swiss foreign ministry and its embassy in Berlin confirmed Khodorkovsky, 50, had been granted a visa, without revealing any further details.
"Switzerland has granted the request of Mikhail Khodorkovsky for a Schengen visa. The visa allows a three-month stay in the Schengen area," said the statement, referring to a 26-country free-travel zone in Europe.
While still behind bars, Russia's once richest man said in one interview that "my family is my main treasure and we are together despite the years, kilometres and barbed wire".
He said he had seen lots of lonely people in prison and felt "ashamed" because he had a great family. "In the lottery of fate I won big time," he said, stressing his wife was waiting for him.
