Edward Snowden Should Return To US To Face Justice - State Dept.

Former US intelligence contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who just obtained Russian citizenship, should return to the United States to face justice, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2022) Former US intelligence contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who just obtained Russian citizenship, should return to the United States to face justice, State Department spokesman Ned price said on Monday.

"Our position has not changed. Mr. Snowden should return to the United States where he should face justice as any other American citizen would," Price said during a press briefing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to Snowden, according to a presidential decree released earlier on Monday.

Snowden's lawyer in Russia, Anatoly Kucherena, told Sputnik that his wife will also soon apply for Russian citizenship.

Kucherena said Snowden's daughter received Russian citizenship by virtue of being born in Russia.

Snowden, a former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents in 2013. In addition to exposing the US domestic surveillance program, Snowden's documents also illustrated the size and scope of US spying on other nations, including routine eavesdropping on world leaders, as well as on US citizens.

Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he spent more than a month stranded at a Moscow airport while the United States was trying to have him handed over to face a criminal trial on spying charges.

Snowden was granted asylum in Russia and received a three-year residence permit in the summer of 2014 that was extended and eventually replaced by a permanent residence permit.