Pitt's School of Law to Feature Edmond Pope, Held for Espionage in Russia, and Pavel Astakhov, the Russian Lawyer Who Defended Him, in a Nov. 29 Talk

Astakhov is enrolled in Pitt law school's LL.M. Program for Foreign Law Graduates

PITTSBURGH––Edmond Pope, former naval intelligence officer, Pennsylvania State University professor, and businessman who was convicted of espionage in Russia, and Pavel Astakhov, the Russian attorney who defended Pope in his Moscow trial, will speak at noon Nov. 29 in the University of Pittsburgh School of Law's Teplitz Memorial Courtroom. The free lecture is sponsored by Pitt's Center for International Legal Education (CILE) and its Center for Russian and East European Studies.

Astakhov, who is now a student enrolled in the Pitt law school's LL.M. Program for Foreign Law Graduates within Pitt's CILE, is the August 2001 recipient of the Merited Lawyer of Russia award, given to only a handful of lawyers by the Moscow Bar Association's Russian Lawyers Guild to recognize service on behalf of human rights protection. Fluent in five languages, Astakhov participates in broadcasts on Voice of America and the BBC. He is a member of the Moscow Bar Association and the American Society of International Law.

Pope was the first American since Francis Gary Powers to be convicted of espionage in Russia. He is the author of Torpedoed, published Nov. 1 by Little, Brown and Company. The book recounts Pope's 253-day incarceration in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison before being pardoned from a sentence of 20 years at hard labor.

As a naval intelligence officer, Pope specialized in high-tech undersea warfare. His duties over the years included briefing the American generals during the Gulf War. After leaving government service, Pope started a company that partnered with Russian scientists to develop commercial applications of Russian military technology.

For more information about the event, call 412/648-7023.