BERLIN (AP) — Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he won't finance Russia's opposition parties or seek the return of his stake in oil firm Yukos.

German news agency dpa reported that the long-time critic of Russia's President Vladimir Putin said he won't "sponsor" the opposition or get directly involved in politics.

Khodorkovsky was speaking to a handful of reporters ahead of a news conference in Berlin.

He flew to the German capital Friday within hours of his release after more than a decade in prison.

Dpa also quoted Khodorkovsky saying "I won't fight for my stake in Yukos."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the onetime Russian oil tycoon who was imprisoned for a decade in a politically tinged case, says he doesn't intend to get involved in politics now that he's been pardoned and released.

President Vladimir Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky on Friday, and hours later he flew on a private jet to Berlin.

Khodorkovsky had been imprisoned for tax evasion and money-laundering. The cases were widely criticized as political revenge, for Khodorkovsky had challenged Putin's dominance by funding opposition parties. He was also believed to have personal political ambitions.

In an interview published Sunday on the website of the Russian newspaper Novoye Vremya, Khodorkovsky is quoted as saying in his pardon application he said he did not intend to get involved in politics or seek the return of the assets of his dismantled Yukos oil company.

However, Khodorkovsky was quoted as telling reporters in Berlin on Sunday that he does intend to continue appealing his convictions.

The accusations "were so phantasmagoric that to describe them by non-political reasoning you would probably have to accept the postulate that people who aren't completely adequate work in the special services," he said, according to the news agency Interfax.