14 DAY TRIAL // The United States keeps putting pressure on the Russian authorities, urging them to extradite Edward Snowden, a man who has already applied for asylum in the country.
However, a recent statement made by the United States officials have surprised the Russian diplomats, Itar Tass reports.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “I would simply say that our position is the same as it has been, which is that we believe Mr. Snowden ought to be expelled and returned to the United States, where he face felony charges, and that there is ample legal justification for that and precedent in terms of cooperation with Russia in the law enforcement area that would allow for that.”
The part that surprised diplomats is the one where the United States claims Russia has enough grounds to extradite the former CIA and NSA employee.
“We wouldn’t like to disappoint our American partners. But if they say such things, we’re forced to say it’s Washington that had previously rejected many Russian proposals to sign an agreement on the extradition,” the diplomat said.
Furthermore, he claims Washington is trying to prove things which cannot be proven and mixes the concepts of extraditing a person at the request of another state and expelling foreigners.
Edward Snowden has been in the Russian Sheremetyevo airport for over a month and has filed for temporary asylum last week. In his application, Snowden states that the United States is persecuting him for revealing top secret documents from the NSA that unveil a wide surveillance program that intrudes on the right of privacy of Internet users from all over the world.
Furthermore, Snowden says he is afraid for his health and life as the US authorities are likely to torture and sentence him to death for the charges being brought to him, namely espionage.