Edward Snowden has received a residence permit in Russia, which is valid for three years, starting on August 1, the former NSA contractor\u2019s lawyer announced.<\/p>\n
Snowden’s life in Russia: \u2018Much happier than be unfairly tried in US\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the first of August he received a three-year residence permit,\u201d lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told reporters.<\/p>\n
He added that Snowden had not asked for political asylum.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will be able to travel freely within the country and go abroad. He\u2019ll be able to stay abroad for not longer than three months,\u201d Kucherena said.<\/p>\n
The former NSA contractor will be able to apply for the Russian citizenship in five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cA foreign citizen, who got a residence permit, will certainly be able to apply for citizenship,\u201d Kucherena said.<\/p>\n
Edward Snowden has not yet made up his mind whether he wants Russian citizenship.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy all means he is homesick,” his lawyer said. “It was hard for him to find himself far from home, especially for the first time. Of course, in the future Edward will make up his mind on whether to stay in Russia and apply for citizenship or to leave for the US. He hasn\u2019t done this yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia a year ago. It expired July 31.<\/p>\n
He left the US and went to Hong Kong in May 2013, from where he leaked confidential files to mass media concerning the NSA\u2019s overwhelming surveillance.<\/p>\n
Snowden then planned to seek refuge in Cuba, but found himself stranded at Moscow\u2019s Sheremetyevo airport, after his American passport was annulled by US authorities.<\/p>\n
Kucherena dismissed a letter from the US Prosecutor General\u2019s office to the Russian Ministry of Justice as insufficient grounds for handing Snowden over to the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been no request which complies with international law,\u201d the lawyer said.<\/p>\n
If Edward Snowden does one day travel back to the US, it\u2019s not going to be extradition, his lawyer assured.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo extradition is possible under Russian law,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has not committed any crime. He faces no charges in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snowden\u2019s security in Russia is being ensured by a private firm, Kucherena said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s without state protection and he can\u2019t possibly have it. To arrange state protection you have to go through many bureaucratic procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kucherena also told reporters that Snowden was satisfied with his job in Russia, as he was able to continue his profession and work in the sphere of computer technology. The former NSA contractor\u2019s Russian salary is adequate, the lawyer added.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said Snowden will hold a press conference in Russia as soon as it will be possible. – RT.COM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Edward Snowden has received a residence permit in Russia, which is valid for three years, starting on August 1, the former NSA contractor\u2019s lawyer announced. Snowden’s life in Russia: \u2018Much happier than be unfairly tried in US\u2019 \u201cOn the first of August he received a three-year residence permit,\u201d lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told reporters. He added … Continue reading “Snowden granted 3-yr residence permit in Russia – lawyer”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2961,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10,123],"tags":[1288,3053,66],"class_list":["post-15132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-united-states","category-world","tag-asylum","tag-ed-snowden","tag-russia"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2961"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15134,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15132\/revisions\/15134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}