Putin May Pardon U.S. Man Held as Spy

Dec. 8 -- A senior Kremlin official today said U.S. businessman Edmond Pope, convicted as a spy but expected to be pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, would probably have to stay in jail until Dec. 14.

The announcement came hours after a presidential commission asked Putin to pardon Pope and save him from 20 years in a hard labor camp.

But the Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Ivanov, the secretary of the president’s influentialSecurity Council, as saying that under Russian law, Pope could not be pardoned until the court’s sentence of 20 years in jail had come into effect.

“The verdict on E. Pope was announced on Dec. 6 and thesentence comes into effect a week after the verdict is given. That means that the president can pardon Pope on Dec. 14,” Ivanov said.

He said Pope, who denied charges of trying to obtainsecrets on a Russian torpedo, could be home for Christmas.

Earlier today, Anatoly Pristavkin, the head of the presidential commission, told reporters that members of the commission had recommended a pardon for Pope. The American was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer that was in remission, but his family fears may have returned.

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The United States expressed anger at the court’s sentence, pronounced on Wednesday, but Putin hinted ahead of the verdict that he might take Pope’s health into account if asked to decide his fate.

In a 10-minute phone call with Putin today, President Bill Clinton once again urged him to free Pope on humanitarian grounds.

Pope’s family has decided not to appeal Wednesday’s conviction because a presidential pardon cannot be made if the appeals process is ongoing.

Pope has been convicted of stealing secrets about a Russian high-speed torpedo. He has denied stealing secret designs for a torpedo, and said he only sought to commercialize technology already widely available.

Pope’s conviction is the first time a U.S. citizen has been convicted of espionage in Russia since pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.