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Snowden Reportedly In Talks To Return To US To Face Trial

Posted by Soulskill on from the bold-strategy dept.

HughPickens.com writes: The Globe and Mail reports that Edward Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, says the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor is working with American and German lawyers to return home. "I won't keep it secret that he wants to return back home. And we are doing everything possible now to solve this issue. 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." Kucherena added that Snowden is ready to return to the States, but on the condition that he is given a guarantee of a legal and impartial trial. The lawyer said Snowden had so far only received a guarantee from the U.S. Attorney General that he will not face the death penalty. Kucherena says Snowden is able to travel outside Russia since he has a three-year Russian residency permit, but "I suspect that as soon as he leaves Russia, he will be taken to the U.S. embassy."

3 of 671 comments (clear)

  1. Full blooded American here by bhcompy · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...and I wouldn't trust any guarantee I received if I were in Snowden's situation. His best case scenario would be to find himself a nice country(read: not Russia) without an extradition treaty and negotiate his way there. The only way is if the president officially pardons him or he is convicted in absentia and the president commutes his sentence, but even then, they'll find something to stick on him, just like they used the IRS to take down gangsters and the mafia.

    1. Re:Full blooded American here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The US has threatened trade sanctions with countries willing to take him in. For example, the US held a tree trade treaty with Ecuador hostage over it the first time around (the revocation of which would have crippled the country). Putin was the only one who had the guts to say: "meh - do your worst". The US is playing hardball when it comes to Snowden - and people around the world are starting to notice. The whole affair has been a horrible black mark on the image of the US - both from what the NSA has done, to how the government behaved trying to get Snowden.

  2. Re:Leverage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Snowden may be using what leverage he has left. He has not yet disclosed all the information he obtained so the US government might cut a deal to avoid further disclosures.

    If you believe what Snowden has previously said then no. He has already given everything he had to foreign third parties, and he no longer controls the information. Snowden could plead with them not to reveal anything more, but it is out of his hands. That is if you believe him.