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Snowden Reportedly In Talks To Return To US To Face Trial
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."
Really bad idea. If he was going to do this he should have never bothered leaving in the first place.
They will hang you, literally or figuratively. Build a good life in Russia, and keep speaking out.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
Lied under oath to Congress.
No penalty for that.
All the scum responsible for the illegal spying go on trial at the same time.
Snowden isn't going to come to the USA willingly to face trial. This is all a ruse. His Russian handlers may just be messing with the US or it may be said to get some publicity. If Snowden really wanted to face justice, he wouldn't have done what he did. His handler is quite right that if Snowden leaves Russia he may end up extradited to the USA. Snowden is going to stay as a permanent "guest" of the USSR, cough cough, I mean Russian Republic as long as Putin is in charge and possibly longer. Wait for it - in the end Snowden or his handlers will say that he couldn't get the guarantees he needed about a fair trial, so he won't be coming. Even if he really wanted to leave and face US justice with no pre-conditions, I don't think Putin and his former KGB boys would let Snowden leave.
I think the fact that the USAG won't guarantee his constitutional right to a fair trial is as horrifying of an indicator of how corrupted the US gov't has become in the post-911 era as any I can think of.
Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
I don't see any upside in returning to America to be humiliated by the propaganda machine of the United States government with an automatic conviction. Talk about show trial. Snowden's motivations would be attacked from every angle and he would get no opportunity to tell his side or explain his motivations in court since a judge would immediately silence any testimony to that effect. A Snowden trial would set back the cause of Liberty.
On some level, I feel like Snowden has to explore the option to return, if only to make clear his long-stated desire to do so, look for avenues to negotiate, and keep his supporters engaged.
I am very doubtful, however, that he will be treated fairly given that he committed the unpardonable crime of embarrassing the U.S. government. Obama is clearly petty and pig-headed enough to resist any cries for justice. His mind is made up about a lot of things, this just being one.
If I were him, though, I'd have to be very nervous anxious about being the guest of such a calculating thug during a time of such geopolitical aggression and uncertainty. I mean Vlad could just order him killed by unknown assailants and then blame the U.S. for the purposes of some minor PR points. He's that kind of guy.
Dear Edward Snowden. There has been one person telling the truth and that has been you. You have lost pretty much everything and gained nothing. I hope the day comes when you can walk the streets of our misguided country as a free man. Thank you.
You are already guaranteed a right to a fair trial. It's not something that the AG can "add to" or deny. Compare a trial in the US to a trial in, say, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, or the territories controlled by ISIS/ISIL. Even some of the most egregious examples of non-impartial trials in the US seem fair in comparison to treatment of suspected anti-government persons in those states.
The problem is that Snowden's version of "Fair" and the general standard of "Fair" in the US are still probably fairly widely separated. He would probably like whistleblower status for everything, ignoring the parts of classified documents he released which were sensitive but not necessary to indicate the underlying problems he wanted to expose. He would probably like the damage he did to the US relationship with its allies to be inadmissible, along with the potential tactical advantage gained by other states as a result of the massive, unfiltered release of classified US intelligence documents.
I think he should really spend his effort working on his Russian and praying that Putin never grown tired of him.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Russia is quite like the U.S. when it comes to expanse of the land. There's plenty of superbly beautiful and unspoiled areas in Russia, if that's your thing. If remote work was feasible, he could live in the middle of nowhere just as well as in the middle of a big city. I would not generalize Russia to be a shithole. If you're on the wrong footing with the authorities, you'll fare equally poorly in any "civilized" country.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
It's still a goddamn shame that none of the allegedly "neutral" countries had the balls to take him in, but what can you do? The US is scary.
I don't think the time is yet right for him to come home, the government isn't any friendlier now than when he left and the people are only slightly less apathetic. Without some powerful public figures to support him, he doesn't stand a chance. However with the situation deteriorating in Russia I imagine it would only be a time before he was assassinated or traded back to the US, so he can't well stay there. At least this will shut up the "Why did he run if he really believes in his cause?" crowd - just kidding they'll change the script and keep on going. Always better to make it a referendum on Snowden's character than to actually talk about the real issues.
What part of "releasing classified documents" doesn't he understand? It's pretty obvious he violated US law. Fair and impartial won't change that outcome.
It did for Clapper, Alexander, Obama, Cheney, Holder, the CIA and a number of others who broke the Constitution, committed perjury before Congress, violated a number of human rights, tortured and killed people without any legal basis for it, and continued lying about it time after time.
All of those enemies of the American people and their Constitution and violators of their oath are foaming at their mouth in anticipation of casting the first stone on Snowden who got the priorities of who and what he was supposed to serve right: "classification" does not trump disclosure of crimes against the American People and Constitution.
It would be a travesty of justice (or rather it is a travesty of justice) that all those go free for their much more severe crimes while Snowden should be prosecuted for uncovering them.
It was annouced today that former General David Patraeus (former head of the CIA, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan) has been allowed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of disclosing classified information after providing large amount of secret info to his mistress and biographer. Should Petraeus, who was motivated by vanity and sex, get a better deal than Snowden who was motivated by love of country and his own idealistic morality? I think not.
"He took a duck in the face at 250 knots." -- William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Just to get 'Seal Team Sixed'? Pass.
shill detected!
"damage he did"...
you just gave youself away. the US did damage. he just reported it!
another one for the old killfile. thanks for IDing yourself as a stupid government shill.
we can clearly see who is being paid to write dissenting posts, here. its not hard.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
fwiw, do you think any of the 5 eyes (uk, oz, etc) would give him a fair trial?
no such luck!
any time you piss off the spymasters this much, you won't usually live very long, or have a good life. he ran for his life, very literally.
there cannot be a fair trail because you insulted the king and the king is very very mad at you.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Based on historic evidence, the US has absolutely zero intention of honouring a 'fair' and 'impartial' trial. Chelsea manning leaked a video of US soldiers murdering an ambulance of civillians and was gifted 35 years in prison for a largely victimless crime. KSM and about 100 other 'detainees' at guantanamo, although routinely and repeatedly insisted that they face American justice are in fact completely in limbo. the FBI has been caught spying on defense council and fabricating evidence and the US Congress, once they realized a program of torture and forced rendition would open these individuals to american courts and the possibility of acquittal immediately moved to isolate, restrict, and outlaw transport or trial of any detainee in an american court.
Civil forfeiture entirely usurps legal process in favour of a carte blanche land and property grab in the pursuit of the "war on drugs." Police are routinely found murdering people in suspicious or controversial situations only to never face trial. the financial collapse of 2008 involved some of the largest banks and securities companies committing fraud on a massive scale, and not a single arrest or trial has taken place. So please, Edward, I understand youre homesick for the first few years in a new place but you need to consider the very legitimate possibility that "american justice" is completely and utterly arbitrary and held to no reasonable, impartial international standard. it exists and functions by virtue of its own existence. Martyring yourself wont change anything, wont alter systems like foreign policy or defense at all. You wont face reason. You will be hanged, and then there will be cake and spin to continue insisting the system of american exceptionalism works.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Guantanamo Bay says differently.
Traitor: One who commits treason
Treason: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
He didn't levy war on us, he didn't adhere to our enemies, nor did he give them comfort. There is a flimsy argument that perhaps his actions gave aid to our enemies but if you roll with that reasoning then all of the people he exposed are also traitors so I'm not sure that's an argument the government would want to make.
He may be a criminal under the current laws, but he's not a traitor. Furthermore, if what he did was illegal then it's the law that is wrong and should be changed. The correct action would be for him to receive a presidential pardon followed by congress strengthening the whistleblower laws and a big shakeup at the NSA to root out their culture of taking activities beyond what they are authorized for. I'm afraid we don't live in that rosy alternate universe however.
Yes, because writing an opinion that differs from yours is clearly only possible by being paid to do so. *eyeroll*
Making public a lot of things that people suspected but didn't quite know did indeed damage relationships. Had he not released the documents, the relationships would have continued as before.
Whether or not the secret actions should have been authorized in the first place is an entirely different issue. From my perspective, having to stamp "secret" on an authorization to do things that you know would piss off your friends is a sign that you probably should not be doing these things, or make you re-evaluate who your friends are.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.