14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden’s father believes his son will return home if the Justice Department makes several promises.
Despite not talking to his son since April, Lonnie Snowden says that if the Justice Department promises not to detain him before a trial nor subject him to a gag order, the NSA whistleblower will return home, NBC reports.
Furthermore, Lonnie Snowden doesn’t believe his son is a traitor like many politicians and media outlets have said.
“At this point I don’t feel that he’s committed treason. He has in fact broken U.S. law, in a sense that he has released classified information. And if folks want to classify him as a traitor, in fact he has betrayed his government,” Snowden’s father said.
However, he mentions, he doesn’t believe the NSA whistleblower has betrayed the people of the United States.
Lonnie Snowden is also concerned about the influence WikiLeaks has on him.
“I don’t want to put him in peril, but I am concerned about those who surround him. I think WikiLeaks’ focus isn’t necessarily the Constitution of the United States. It’s simply to release as much information as possible,” Lonnie Snowden said during an interview.
Edward Snowden is being supported by WikiLeaks. He also has an escort from the organization that has been helping him through his travel and they have also hired a lawyer to protect him.
Furthermore, Julian Assange has pushed for Ecuador to provide Snowden with political asylum, as he himself is being protected by the same government.
However, unlike Snowden, Assange is stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Edward Snowden has revealed information about the NSA spying programs, including PRISM that collects private data from Internet users worldwide. Another project collects phone call metadata from U.S. mobile users.
Snowden sought refuge in Hong Kong, but fled the city last Sunday. He’s been on a Russian airport ever since, without having crossed the border into the country.
He is now accused of espionage.