RUSSIANS MAY FREE TOBIN

MOSCOW - John Tobin, a U.S. Fulbright scholar convicted on drug
charges, could be freed on good behavior in early August after
serving half his one-year sentence, a Russian official said Monday.

The announcement came two weeks after Russian security officials said
they may bring espionage charges against Tobin - a claim his lawyers
called a dubious legal bid to keep him behind bars.

Tobin, 24, was convicted in April of obtaining, possessing and
distributing drugs in Voronezh, 300 miles south of Moscow, and
sentenced to 37 months in prison. A higher court overturned the
distribution conviction on appeal and reduced the sentence to a year.

Tobin will have served half his prison term on Aug. 2 and will be
eligible to apply for early release, a Justice Ministry spokesman in
Voronezh, Alexander Babkin, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as
saying.

The release would have to be approved by the prison administration
and then by a court, he said, adding that a hearing probably would
take place on Aug. 4-5.

Tobin would only be freed if he maintains his record of good behavior
in prison, Babkin was quoted as saying. Tobin is held in Rossosh,
about 90 miles south of Voronezh.

"So far he has not been misbehaving or breaking the prison regimen,"
Babkin said.