The White House declined to comment on Edward Snowden’s acquisition of a Russian passport.
WASHINGTON, December 2 – RIA Novosti. The White House refused to comment on former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden’s obtaining a Russian passport and reminded that a criminal investigation is being carried out against him in the US.
Snowden received Russian citizenship by presidential decree at the end of September. On Friday, his lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told reporters that Snowden had already taken the oath and received a Russian passport. According to the lawyer, since the Russian Constitution protects the principle of the inadmissibility of deportation of a Russian citizen, Russian citizenship protects him from extradition to another state.
In June 2013, Snowden launched a major international scandal by giving the Washington Post and Guardian a series of classified material about the Internet surveillance programs of US and British intelligence services. After that, he flew to Hong Kong, and from there to Moscow, where for a while Sheremetyevo airport was in the transition zone.
After rejections from several other countries, Russia granted Snowden temporary asylum for a year, on the condition that he cease his activities against the United States. In August 2014, Snowden received a three-year residence permit in the Russian Federation, after which he was granted an indefinite residence permit.
Source: Ria
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