December 14, 2000

President Putin pardoned American Edmond Pope and freed him. Pope was recently convicted of espionage for attempting to discover details of a high speed Russian torpedo. This weapon, called "Squall" travels at some 300 kilometers an hour underwater. That's the good news. The bad news is the Squall has a range of only 16 kilometers, can only travel in a straight line and has no guidance system (like most current torpedoes). The Russians have not put the Squall into service and details of the torpedo have been given out as part of attempts to sell it to foreign navies. Pope's arrest was seen as an attempt by Russia's security services to show their strength. The trial was closed and without a jury. The evidence against Pope was very weak.