Robert Amsterdam

The Associated Press quotes Khodorkovsky's lawyer Yuri Schmidt with regard to the submission of a request for parole: "We wish Dmitry Anatolyevich (Medvedev) success absolutely sincerely," Shmidt said at a news conference. "If he manages to achieve real independence for the courts, it would not be reform. It would be a revolution."

The Irish Times also has coverage:

"This is not an admission of guilt, not a confession," Khodorkovsky's chief defence lawyer Yuri Schmidt told a Moscow news conference of the appeal. Khodorkovsky has consistently rejected all accusations against him.

Khodorkovsky (45), once Russia's richest man, said in his appeal "my quarter-century work record, successful job experience in various capacities and large family all guarantee my proper settlement after release."

He said he met the conditions for early release, including having served more than half his sentence, as well as "diligently having worked in prison," but emphasized throughout that he was neither admitting guilt nor asking for a pardon.

In June Mr Medvedev told reporters in Germany that "the procedures for a pardon are open to any and all citizens convicted of one or another crime, including Khodorkovsky."

Mr Schmidt said he expected opponents of Khodorkovsky to obstruct his request for early release, despite Mr Medvedev's call for judicial independence.

More at Kommersant, the BBC, AFP, and the Moscow Times.