"I would not be interested in becoming Russia's president if my country was developing normally..." It did come as a surprise last December, when Vladimir Putin suddenly signed an early release for Mikhail Khodorvkovsky, who was the richest man in Russia ($15B) when he was jailed for 'tax evasion' (read: challenged Putin) in 2003... Hard to tell for sure what the thought process was there -perhaps feeling strong and aiming to soften his image a bit- but Putin at the time explained 'Ten years in prison is a serious punishment' and signed the form that freed Khodorkovsky from a decade of harsh detention....