Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed oil tycoon, has called on Britain to prevent Russian ofrficials suspected of human rights abuses or corruption from attending the Olympics.
In a letter passed to The Sunday Telegraph from his prison cell, Mr Khodorkovsky urged a ban on 308 officials including high-profile figures such as Russian deputy prime minister Vladislav Surkov, youth leader Vasily Yakemenko and controversial elections chief Vladimir Churov. The provocative proposal comes as William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, travels to Moscow for a one day visit tomorrow. He is expected to broach democracy issues briefly but the main focus of the trip will be multilateral cooperation over Syria and Iran.
Mr Khodorkovsky, jailed on allegedly trumped up charges of fraud in 2003, stopped short of requesting an entry ban on Vladimir Putin, but urged Prime Minister David Cameron to press the Russian president on his autocratic leadership if he travels to London for the Games.