14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden has applied for temporary asylum rather than political asylum because it takes less to process and he doesn’t intend to stay too long in Russia anyway.
A request for political asylum could have taken the authorities up to six months to consider and he seems to be tired of living in an airport.
The country’s Federal Migration Service has confirmed that the documents have been filed so all that is left now is to wait for a decision to come from the Russian authorities.
The initial application review period can take up to five days, while a final response can be given in three months. If approved, Snowden could legally stay in Russia for 12 months before a renewal of his status is required.
“Right now we are beginning the first stage – the definition of his legal status. Snowden would have to be in the transit area or FSM can transfer him to the temporary accommodation for refugees or internally displaced persons,” the Head of the Public Chamber of FMS Vladimir Volokh said.
Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in 27 countries and he has already received answers from Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
A favorable decision could also come from Ecuador, but he would need to reach the country’s embassy or the country itself for the request to be processed.
He had also previously applied for asylum in Russia, but he retracted his request after Vladimir Putin stated that Snowden could remain in his country only if he stopped harming the United States.
This remains a condition for Russia to grant him asylum, despite the fact that Snowden himself doesn’t consider his actions to be harming the United States in any way and simply believes he is fighting for human rights.
Regardless of Snowden’s asylum status, however, Glenn Greenwald, the journalist from The Guardian who broke the news on NSA spying, says that it is unlikely he would stop publishing stories resulting from the leaked NSA documents.
In the meantime, Snowden has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a University professor.