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Khodorkovsky Begins Prison Term In Siberia

Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky has arrived in Siberia, where he will serve his eight-year prison sentence for fraud and tax evasion. Khodorkovsky`s case was surrounded with speculation it took place for his support of opposition parties to President Vladimir Putin.

Khodorkovsky, 42, a long-time critic of the Putin regime, was sent to camp IK-10, near the border with China and 6,000 kilometers, or 3,730 miles, from his native Moscow. According to human rights groups, and Khodorkovsky`s lawyers, authorities are violating Russian law by sending him "so far from his home and family."

The IK-10 camp, near Krasnokamensk, has about 1,000 inmates. Its original inmates in the 1960s helped build a uranium processing plant, though the camp now produces only textiles like clothing and bedding. Alexander Pleshkov, head of the local prison administration, says that, "It is a normal camp providing normal living conditions."