Russian court upholds spy appeal

Russia's supreme court has refused an application by prosecutors to reinstate the conviction of a former junior diplomat for spying for Britain.

The convicted man, Platon Obukhov -- the son of a former high-ranking politician of the Soviet era - was originally sentenced to eleven years imprisonment, but successfully appealed against his conviction, and a new trial was ordered.

Mr Obukhov was working for the North America section of the Russian foreign ministry at the time of his arrest.

His lawyers have maintained that, as a schizophrenic, Mr Obukhov was not responsible for his crimes. They said he was acting out his fantasies and gathering material for spy novels he wrote as a sideline.

He was dismissed from his job after he gave a gangster in one of his books the same name as his department chief.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service