Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: The New York Times

RUSSIAN CALLS IMPRISONED AMERICAN A SPY

MOSCOW -- An American student serving a one-year sentence in Russia on a 
drug conviction faced fresh difficulties today, after a Russian scientist 
accused the American of trying to recruit him as a spy for the United States.

The scientist, Dmitri Kouznetsov, a toxicologist who was imprisoned in the 
United States three years ago on bad check charges, accused John Edward 
Tobin, 24, a Fulbright scholar convicted in April for possession of 
marijuana, of being an F.B.I. agent. Mr. Kouznetsov said that while he was 
jailed in the United States in 1998, Mr. Tobin visited him, identified 
himself as an F.B.I. agent and offered leniency if Mr. Kouznetsov would 
collaborate.

Authorities in Moscow said today that they were reviewing the accusations 
but had not decided whether to charge Mr. Tobin with espionage.

When Mr. Tobin was arrested, investigators suggested that he was a spy, 
after learning he had studied at an Arizona military intelligence 
institute. But ultimately he was not charged with espionage.

Mr. Tobin's lawyer told the Echo Moscow radio station that the new 
accusations were spurious and leveled only to cloud Mr. Tobin's case ahead 
of an expected release. Russian officials have indicated that the American 
may be pardoned.

Mr. Kouznetsov could not be reached for comment.
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