National Security Agency leaker
Edward Snowden poses with German Green party parliamentarian
Hans-Christian Stroebele in Moscow on October 31. Stroebele returned
from the meeting with a letter from Snowden to German authorities, which
was distributed to the media. In it, Snowden said he is confident that
with international support, the United States would abandon its efforts
to "treat dissent as defection" and "criminalize political speech with
felony charges."
HIDE CAPTION
NSA leaker Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden responds to CNN
A DOJ deal for Edward Snowden?
Atty Gen. Holder discusses Snowden case
Russia's position basically buys Snowden more time as he mulls his next move.
Snowden has said he wants
to return home but also wants whistle-blower protection. The U.S.
government, meanwhile, says it will not offer clemency.
In an online chat Thursday, Snowden said that returning to the U.S. "is the best resolution for all parties," but "it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistle-blower protection laws."
He pointed out that the
U.S. government's Whistleblower Protection Act doesn't cover someone
like him, a former government contractor.
"There are so many holes
in the laws, the protections they afford are so weak, and the processes
for reporting they provide are so ineffective that they appear to be
intended to discourage reporting of even the clearest wrongdoing," he
wrote. "... My case clearly demonstrates the need for comprehensive
whistle-blower protection act reform."
Snowden offered his
remarks from Russia, where he's been since June, having been granted a
one-year asylum. Pushkov's remarks appear to open the door to an
extension of that asylum.
The U.S. government hasn't stayed silent on his case, either.
On Thursday, around the
time that Snowden was answering questions online, Attorney General Eric
Holder said that "if Mr. Snowden wanted to come back to the United
States and enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers."
The government would
take the same tack with anyone willing to plead guilty, Holder said at
an event at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.
But in Snowden's case, the attorney general insisted, "Clemency isn't something that we (are) willing to consider."
0 Maoni:
Post a Comment