Russian President Vladimir Putin now says he will pardon a jailed former tycoon, a day after Russia revealed an amnesty program that covers prominent human rights cases such as the Greenpeace Arctic 30 and the Punk Rock band Pussy Riot.

Once Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was already serving time for tax evasion when he was convicted of stealing oil and laundering money in 2010.  Amnesty International regards the charges as politically motivated and Khodorkovsky to be a prisoner of conscience because of his opposition to the Putin government.  Putin says he acted because he received a request for a pardon from Khodorkovsky, citing his elderly mother’s health.

Members of the band Pussy Riot were jailed because of a performance art demonstration at a cathedral.  And the Arctic 30 were arrested after Russian coast guards boarded the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise following a September 18 protest in which some of the activists tried to scale Russia's first offshore oil platform in the Arctic. 

In the Pussy Riot case, Putin is still not a fan.

“I was not sorry that they ended up behind bars,” Putin said.  “I was sorry that they were engaged in such disgraceful behavior, which in my view was degrading to the dignity of women.”

Putin also warned that despite the amnesty, the Arctic 30 case should serve as a warning to environmentalists that Russia will take similar measures with future protesters, whom are not guarantees amnesty.