Edward Snowden May Finally Stand Trial
-as Russian Lawyer for the NSA Leaker Reveals They are Working With the United States on His Return Home
- Edward Snowden may finally return home to the United States it was revealed on Tuesday
- Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said they were working out a way to solve the issue of his extradition with the United States
- Snowden has been charged with theft of government property and two counts of violating the 1917 Espionage Act for leaking classified documents
- This comes one week after the documentary about Snowden leaking this information, Citizenfour, won the Oscar for Best Documentary
- Snowden has said that he will return home if he is given a fair trial by the United States government
- He recently said his biggest regret through this all is that he did not come forward with these leaks sooner
Daily Mail UK, 3 March 2015
Edward Snowden may finally be going home.
A Russian lawyer for Snowden said on Tuesday the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government's mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home.
His biggest demand it seems is that he be given a fair trial when charged for his offenses.
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Edward Snowden (above) may finally return home to the United States it was revealed on Tuesday
Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena (above) said they were working out a way to solve the issue of his extradition with the United States
'I won't keep it secret that he... wants to return back home. And we are doing everything possible now to solve this issue,' said his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena while speaking at a news conference about a book he had written on Snowden.
'There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I'm dealing with it on the Russian side.'
Lawyer reveals Edward Snowden is considering US return;
Moscow granted Snowden asylum in 2013, and he has been given a three-year residence permit in Russia.
This at a time when relations between the two countries are already strained.
The United States wants Snowden to stand trial for leaking extensive secrets of electronic surveillance programs by the National Security Agency, but Russia has repeatedly refused to extradite him.
He has been charged with theft of government property and two counts of violating the 1917 Espionage Act.
And while the government is eager to have Snowden see his day in court, public support for the 31-year-old may be at an all time high.
The documentary about Snowden, Citizenfour, won the Oscar last week, with director Laura Poitras (left), journalist Glenn Greenwald (center), and Snowden's girlfriend Lindsay Mills (right) accepting the award
Just last week the documentary Citzenfour, which examined the leaking of these classified documents by Snowden to journalist Glenn Greenwald, and his quest for asylum in the aftermath, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards.
Snowden's girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, was there to accept the award alongside Greenwald and the film's director, Laura Poitras.
He was also interviewed by New York Times media columnist David Carr in the esteemed journalist's last ever public appearance.
In a recent Reddit AMA, Snowden said that through this all his biggest regret is that he did not come forward with these leaks sooner, believing that if he had he might have limited some of the government's abuse of their powers.
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