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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."
I'm thinking that the US is simply wearing him down. they can wait, they have time. but he's living in a kind of prison right now, anyway. his freedom is highly restricted. plus, well, russia is a shit-hole. who in their right mind would want to STAY there if you've known and grown up with better?
still, I would never trust this 'agreement'. the US has a hard-on for fucking him over and there will be NO fair trail, you can bet on that.
the US makes up its own rules and it would take an extremely lucky person to walk out of such a situation alive, in one piece and not be always watching over your shoulder.
his life is mostly over, as it is. really sad to have to say that, but living in the US will always be a 'look over your shoulder' kind of life. he will be hunted the rest of his life, if not by government thugs, then by CITIZEN thugs who think they are being 'patriotic' (dammit!).
there is no good move for him. I wish him the best, he's my ultimate hero, but I don't see this ending well at all ;(
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Is he a traitor, or was his whistle blowing justified?
The real problem is that he could be both at the same time.
Same as in the military, if you disobey a direct order and that disobedience ends up saving lives, you can still be charged with disobeying a direct order.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
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.
You may argue that the law is bad, or that the purpose of his actions was noble. That same may be said of killing [insert bad guy]. It doesn't make the murder legal, it may only lessen the sentence. I'm not sure when facing the death penalty, that life without parole in a federal penitentiary is going to be that much more appealing if your goal is to live out your life in the United States without constantly being under the thumb of the government.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Maybe he's just testing the water, to find out what kind of reaction this provokes from the US. He clearly knows better than anyone what the consequences of what he's doing would be.
I don't entirely disagree with you here. I do think he has untapped earning potential in Russia, though. If he can get a long-term work visa, there are any number of Russian (Kaspersky as an example) and overseas security consulting firms who would vanity hire him as a security auditor. He was making $200k per year as a contractor for the NSA and I expect he could fetch that or more from a company looking to raise their profile in the security industry. Heck, look at Kevin Mitnick. And that guy was a newb compared to Snowden. I expect $200k per year probably supports a more lavish lifestyle in Russia than it did when Snowden was living in Hawaii.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I wonder if that is the whole point of the negotiations in the first place ... to show just how corrupt and unreasonable the system is? I wouldn't be surprised if Snowden never expected it to go anywhere meaningful in the first place.
As part of his re-patriation agreement, he should require cameras to be rolling throughout the entire trial with a live uncensored feed available to any organization that wants it (News organizations, EFF, ACLU, etc). If the government shuts down the cameras for any reason, then the agreement is null and void and the USA guarantees his return to Russia.
Then the american people can decide if the trial is "fair" -- if the government tries to redact all of the evidence due to national security reasons, then it's hard to see how the trial can be called "fair".
I realize that the USA will likely ignore the agreement once he's on american soil, but at least it demonstrates that the USA government can't be trusted to abide by its own agreements and it validates Snowden's reason for fleeing to Russia.
Hold the trial in a neutral location outside the US like Switzerland. It can be based on US law, but under the control of an independent third party. Get agreement that any prison time is spent somewhere with a humane prison system, like Norway.
The only way home I can think of for Snowden is if someone like Rand Paul ends up as President (not ideal, but there are worse choices):
1) He seems to genuinely care about civil rights (is against the Patriot Act, use of drones, government surveillance etc), and this would be an opportunity to put his money where his mouth is
2) Only a Republican would snub President Obama in such a way
Fat chance of that happening, though.
I'm confused: do you believe in rule of law (Congress, judges, juries, etc.), or do you believe Snowden taking the law into his own hands? It tickles me that the law suddenly becomes very important when we need to determine whether or not Mr. Snowden violated it, but it was of no importance to Mr. Snowden when he was (allegedly) violating it.
Is the "hero" the guy who violates the law or the guy by disclosing secrets, contrary to terms he signed when he got his security clearance, or is the "hero" the guy who wants the law to be applied fairly to his own case.
General Betray-Us should spend the rest of his life making little rocks out of big rocks at Ft. Leavenworth.
Ed should be given a ticker tape parade, one hundred billion dollars, and a lifetime exemption for the next ten generations of descendants of all taxation.
Apparently, you do not have a clear understanding of how the US legal system works. If the DOJ makes a promise in a legal contract, it will have to follow that contract. To improperly reneg on that contract would jeopardize every legal contract the US government makes across the world. The US's power is embedded in law; to publicly violate it would unravel the US. And finally, you need to get a realistic grasp of Snowden's situation. His ability to further damage the US government is probably negligible. His value in "disappearing him into Gitmo" is also zero, because it will never happen with current protocols. He's negotiating jail time for "crimes" he knows he would be successfully prosecuted for, in exchange for the US to make the best "example" of Snowden they can manage. But the US DOJ will have to agree to operate above board, with a standard criminal prosecution; no "Star" courts.
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
I think the Snowden trial would mirror the trial in Alice in Wonderland:
[trial begins]
US Government: Now, Ha ha... are you ready for your sentence?
Snowden: Sentence? Ah, but there must be a verdict first!
US Government: Sentence first! Verdict afterwards.
Snowden: But that just isn't the way!
US Government: All ways are...
Snowden: Your ways, your majesty.
US Government: Yes, my child. Off with his head!
And I don't think any "magic mushroom" is going to make Snowden grow over a mile high and thus able to walk out a free man.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
You have to wonder if the Russians one day will decide they get a better deal turning you over to the Americans what they get by protecting you
Historical trivia: The Russians have done that before. When Hitler came to power in Germany, hundreds of German leftists fled to Russia, assuming they would be safe in a communist country. The Russians turned 600 of them over to Hitler as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
A trial would answer all those questions - but we can't bring the government perps to trial for some reason.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Face it, America is now being ran by people who don't believe the law applies to them. Which means you should be very angry with the people in power, and not enabling them to keep acting like this.
Which is why I look at Edward Snowden as a true American hero.. If he were to come back to the US, I doubt he'd even get as "fair" a trial as Irwin Schiff did.. .. or THEY would be in violation of the law.... After the trial I spoke to a couple of people who were on that jury and they told me they were convinced of Irwin being not-guilty, but the completely illegal jury instructions scared them such that they voted to convict.. Whether or not you know (or believe) that the "income tax" is totally bogus or you've bought into it like a very large number of Americans, this type of "Star chamber" trial is VERY un-American... And this would be the type of trial that Snowden would receive, AT BEST....
http://www.takelifeback.com/ir.... Irwin's only "crime" was to publish books showing of facts showing clearly that there was/is NO law requiring Americans to pay an "income tax".. I live in Las Vegas, and attended a large part of the "trial".. His attorney was prevented from presenting evidence, and was also prevented from presenting evidence disputing the endless lies presented by the IRS and the prosecution.. Irwin was brought into the courtroom in shackles and prevented from speaking in his own defense by the judge. The "icing on the cake" of this "kangaroo court trial" was the fact that the judge, in his jury instructions, told the jury that they MUST find Irwin guity
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
Whether you think Snowden is a hero or a traitor, I'd say the best political move Obama could make would be to pardon Snowden for any crimes he is accused of committing to date.
It would effectively silence Snowden as he could come home with the pardon in his pocket, assuming he keeps his mouth shut forever after. If Snowden continued leaks, then Snowden would be easy to turn into the bad guy
It would avoid a public trial (which would be awkward, assuming the government would even grant one).
It would avoid accusations of injustice (in case the trial was a secret one in Gitmo, or an unfortunate 'accident' occurred on his flight home).
Obama should do this after the 2016 election before he leaves office, as the hubbub will settle out and be forgotten by the 2018 midterm election. It would not satisfy Snowden's supporters (who think he should get a ticker tape parade) or his detractors (who think he should be imprisoned forever), but it would effectively halt the leaks and put the problem to bed with a minimum of fuss.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!