Pope's lawyer demands the dismissal of Judge

The attorneys of the U.S. citizen Edmond Pope who is standing trial for espionage in Russia have requested the dismissal of Judge Nina Barkova from the case, Pope's lawyer Pavel Astakhov told the press. Pope's defence requested the judge's dismissal after certain requests they had filed were rejected, in particular a request to withdraw materials from the case that prosecutor Oleg Plotnikov had played a part in obtaining. Pope's attorneys say Plotnikov had no right to participate in the legal proceedings, as his son was a member of the group of investigators with the Federal Security Service (FSB) in charge of the Pope case, Moscow Echo announces.