14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like the United States can try as much as it wants, but it’s not going to get its hands on Edward Snowden.
That’s what Russian authorities say, at least. According to a new report, Kremlin’s spokesman said that, despite the fact the FSB is in talks with the FBI over Snowden, they will not send him home, RT reports.
“Russia has never extradited anyone and will not extradite,” said Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, adding that he is sure the NSA whistleblower will stop harming the US if he is granted asylum in Russia.
Furthermore, he states Putin is not personally handling the Snowden case, since the asylum request is in no way subject to consideration by the head of state.
The statement regarding Edward Snowden putting a stop to any activities that harm the US is a bit tricky, however. According to Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who has been in contact with Snowden for months, the NSA whistleblower hasn’t been providing him with new documents for a long time, claiming he handed over thousands of files in a single session.
So, while Snowden will not directly harm the US by leaking more documents, the NSA secrets will continue to get published.
The NSA whistleblower still has some files upon him, said the same source, but those are never going to be seen by anyone besides himself, since they are top-secret documents that have nothing to do with the mass-surveillance programs run by the agency.
The only instance in which these files would end up in the media is if anything ever happens to him. Snowden has claimed weeks ago that he had a “dead-man’s switch” set in place in case he “disappears,” in an effort to make sure he is relatively safe from the United States authorities.