The US government stance on Edward Snowden causes more harm than good to the USA, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said, calling the US officials’ claims of filing “lawfully” grounded requests for his extradition “cynical”.
According to Kucherena, Russia is “fulfilling its humanitarian
mission,” and threats of sanctions against Russia if the
country does not extradite the whistleblower are groundless.
There was absolutely no legal basis provided to back US demands
to extradite Snowden, Kucherena reiterated in response to White
House press secretary Jay Carney’s claims of “very clear and
lawful requests in public and private.”
“I believe this is a very cynical statement,” Kucherena said.
“Since I became [Snowden’s] legal representative, we’ve been
asking – both through the [US] embassy and I, personally, through
the media – ‘Please, make a clear reference to a provision of law
that would allow us to turn him over to you.' Thus far we did not
receive any response.”
The only official letter from US Attorney General Eric Holder
detailing America’s position on Edward Snowden and clarifying
some point of US law did not contain any request to extradite
him, Kucherena reminded.
“If there was any legal basis, they would immediately send
such a request,” Kucherena stated. “We have to demonstrate
prudence in [this situation]. The dialogue, no matter how hard it
is, should be meaningful.”
“[Russia] is not a colony of the US, and we cannot be told
‘Give him to us!’” Kucherena added.
Since the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has been issued a
temporary residence permit and finally left Moscow Sheremetyevo
airport, everyone has been wondering where he is now. Snowden’s
lawyer said that the whistleblower was in a “safe place”
keeping a low profile for now due to “security reasons,”
but would soon be ready to “meet with media representatives to
answer all possible questions in person.”
“The level of danger is high for him. After all he’s being
sought by a super power. And we understand what means and methods
they could use to find him,” Kucherena said, refusing to
reveal Snowden’s current location. “We have agreed that he is
ready [to meet with the press], but when this will happen, it’s
hard to determine.”
The lawyer also stated that he was to organize Snowdens’ reunion
with his father, Lon Snowden who was waiting for his visa
documents to be “finalized,” a process that could take
about three weeks.
Edward Snowden has been issued a 12-month residence permit and is
legally allowed to work in Russia and travel across the country.
However, if he crosses the country’s borders his temporary asylum
permit will be revoked, according to the lawyer.
“Edward can buy a train or airplane ticket, but he cannot
cross the border because he does not have an international
passport,” said the lawyer reiterating that the former CIA
employee has “no intention to travel abroad as of now.”
The former US citizen, stripped of his passport, had been living
in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport since June
23. He was granted temporary asylum on Thursday fully aware
that Moscow would not tolerate Snowden continuing US leaks.
President Vladimir Putin has previously warned “that any
activity of his that could damage US-Russian relations is
unacceptable for [Russia].”
When asked about the latest XKeyscore revelations published by
the Guardian on Wednesday, Kucherena stated that the data
exposing the massive information-collecting program was passed on
to journalist Glenn Greenwald while Snowden was still in Hong
Kong.
While the whistleblower’s location still raises many questions,
Kucherena said that Snowden has acquired “new friends,
including Americans, who will ensure his security for the time
being.”