14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden has officially applied for political asylum in Russia, a human rights lawyer revealed.
Although he announced he would like to gain temporary asylum in Russia during a conference he organized on Friday, Edward Snowden has only now applied the required documents to gain asylum, RT reports.
“Snowden asked me questions about the current Russian legislation. I explained everything to him. I think he will make a decision just today or tomorrow. I told him about Russian refugee law, the presidential decree on granting political asylum and the government decree on temporary asylum,” human rights lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said.
"I told him about all the intricacies of the procedure. It was decided that a staff member from the FMS office will come to the airport to accept Snowden’s temporary asylum request, as he is not allowed to leave Sheremetyevo’s transit zone," the lawyer said.
As the Russian authorities consider his application, Snowden should be given a certificate permitting him to move across the country freely. If the response is positive, then Snowden will be given another set of documents with his new asylee status.
"I've just left Snowden in the transit zone. I helped him draw the application, and since he could not meet with the FMS representative, I asked the latter to meet him in the transit zone. The application was drawn and registered in the transit zone," the lawyer mentioned.
Edward Snowden has been on the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport for several weeks as he cannot leave to South America where he has been offered asylum due to the fact that he has no passport.
Vladimir Putin has stated several times that Snowden can only stay in Russia if he stops damaging the country’s partners, namely the United States.