U.S. man convicted on Russian spy charges

WEB EXCLUSIVE Jill Dougherty on the verdict of Edmond Pope

MOSCOW, Russia -- U.S. businessman Edmond Pope has been found guilty of spying in Russia and sentenced to a 20-year jail term.

Pope received the maximum penalty sought by prosecutors after he was charged with trying to obtain secret information about a Russian torpedo.

The trial judge also ordered the confiscation of money found on the 54-year-old, who is in remission from a rare form of bone cancer, when he was arrested.

Pope's lawyer Pavel Astakhov said Pope had seven days to appeal.

"This case must go down in history as a record investigation over three months, a trial over two months and the final sitting of 2-1/2 hours and a sentence read in one hour...This was not a fair trial," he said.

Pope's wife Cheri was so angry after the verdict that she could not speak, said Pennsylvania Republican Congressman John Peterson, who is in Moscow with her.

	AUDIO
Moscow Correspondent Jill Dougherty relays the Pope verdict .75 mb/34 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Outside the courtroom Peterson said she was in a fragile state "after 245 days of hell."

Peterson said Mrs. Pope hugged her husband through the bars of the cage, where people on trial usually sit in Russian courts, and gripped his hand as the verdict was read.

It was the first time she has been allowed into the closed hearings

The U.S. government immediately criticised the ruling and called on Moscow to release Pope on "humanitarian grounds."

"We are deeply disappointed by the verdict. Throughout this case we have seen no evidence that Mr. Pope violated any Russian laws," said White House National Security spokesman P.J. Crowley.

"We remain very concerned that his (Pope's) health has deteriorated in recent days. We have been making clear to the Russian government that they should move to release Mr. Pope on humanitarian grounds."

Crowley added that President Clinton has "raised this issue repeatedly with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and is following the developments closely."

General Alexander Zdanovich, the head of the FSB, the agency that arrested Pope, said he was pleased with the verdict.

"In Russia, we have state secrets to protect. We have been doing that and we will continue to do everything to protect them," the general said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pope had again professed his innocence, telling the judge: "Even if I spent eight months in a Russian jail, I am not a spy. All I want is for you to release me and to go home."

Pope called Russia a "country of mystery" in which a businessman who thought he was buying information legally could be arrested on charges of espionage.

He has been held in Moscow's top-security Lefortovo prison since his arrest in April by the federal security service.

Pope, a retired U.S. Navy officer from Pennsylvania, was arrested on allegations that he tried to buy plans for a high-speed Russian torpedo called the Squall.

Astakhov said Pope's final speech included a denial that he had received any secrets. He said he still did not know what he was accused of and that the prosecution's case was built on "conjecture and wrong conclusions."

In his statement to the court before the verdict, Pope said he had attended an exhibit of Russian technology in 1996 in the U.S. and became interested in information on torpedos.

He said he was assured that all data was openly available and not secret.

Pope owns a consulting firm that purchases marine technology, CERF Technologies International, and his supporters insist he was merely asking about an underwater propulsion system that is at least 10 years old and has already been sold abroad.

After the verdict Peterson said: "We were not surprised. We did not feel there was much of a chance when no one was allowed to see the facts."

Mrs. Pope has written two letters to President Putin asking for Pope's release on humanitarian grounds.

"I ... begged President Putin to let my husband go to a clinic," she said before the guilty verdict, adding:"I really believe that if we do not get him to hospital he will soon die."

In addition to Clinton requesting Pope's release, the U.S. Congress has discussed cutting aid to Russia over the issue.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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