Virtual Event: Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit - Watch Sessions
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Tracking & Law Enforcement

US Tells Russia Will Not Seek Death Penalty for Snowden

WASHINGTON – The United States has told Russia it will not seek the death penalty nor torture fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, in an attempt to convince Moscow to turn him over.

The assurances came in a letter obtained by AFP Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder sent to Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov.

WASHINGTON – The United States has told Russia it will not seek the death penalty nor torture fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, in an attempt to convince Moscow to turn him over.

The assurances came in a letter obtained by AFP Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder sent to Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov.

“We understand from press reports that Mr. Snowden has filed papers seeking temporary asylum in Russia on the grounds that if he were returned to the United States, he would be tortured and would face the death penalty,” Holder wrote.

“These claims are entirely without merit.”

Snowden, whom Washington wants to put on trial for disclosing details of massive US surveillance, has been marooned at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for more than a month amid uncertainty about his future.

The case has further strained relations between Washington and Moscow, although a Kremlin spokesman indicated Friday that Snowden’s fate is not on President Vladimir Putin’s immediate agenda.

The White House has voiced strong opposition to Snowden’s request for safe haven in Russia and has criticized Moscow for providing him with a “propaganda platform.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

In the letter dated Tuesday, Holder said the charges against the 30-year-old do not carry the possibility of the death penalty and that “the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional, death penalty-eligible crimes.”

Holder also stressed to Konovalov that the former National Security Agency contractor would not be tortured and would receive a fair trial back home.

“Torture is unlawful in the United States,” he wrote.

“If he returns to the United States, Mr. Snowden would promptly be brought before a civilian court convened under Article III of the United States Constitution and supervised by a United States District Judge.”

Snowden would be appointed or could retain counsel, and any questioning would be conducted only with his consent, he added.

“Mr. Snowden would have the right to a public jury trial; he would have the right to testify if he wished to do so; and the United States would have to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury,” Holder wrote.

“If convicted, Mr. Snowden would have the right to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals.”

Holder said Washington believes “these assurances eliminate these asserted grounds for Mr. Snowden’s claim that he should be treated as a refugee or granted asylum, temporary or otherwise.”

Holder also said that, despite news reports and Snowden’s belief to the contrary, he is able to travel and is eligible for a “limited validity passport.”

“Despite the revocation of his passport on June 22, 2013, Mr. Snowden remains a US citizen,” Holder wrote.

“He is eligible for a limited validity passport good for direct return to the United States. The United States is willing to immediately issue such a passport to Mr. Snowden.”

The head of a civic panel that advises the Russian migration service warned Friday that Snowden could still stay half a year in Sheremetyevo while his asylum application is considered.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

SecurityWeek’s Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit brings together security practitioners from around the world to share war stories on breaches, APT attacks and threat intelligence.

Register

Securityweek’s CISO Forum will address issues and challenges that are top of mind for today’s security leaders and what the future looks like as chief defenders of the enterprise.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

No one combatting cybercrime knows everything, but everyone in the battle has some intelligence to contribute to the larger knowledge base.

Cybercrime

The FBI dismantled the network of the prolific Hive ransomware gang and seized infrastructure in Los Angeles that was used for the operation.

Ransomware

The Hive ransomware website has been seized as part of an operation that involved law enforcement in 10 countries.

Cybercrime

Spanish Court agreed to extradite Joseph James O’Connor to he U.S., who allegedly took part in the July 2020 hacking of Twitter accounts of...

Ransomware

US government reminds the public that a reward of up to $10 million is offered for information on cybercriminals, including members of the Hive...

Privacy

Employees of Chinese tech giant ByteDance improperly accessed data from social media platform TikTok to track journalists in a bid to identify the source...

Cybercrime

A hacker who reportedly posed as the CEO of a financial institution claims to have obtained access to the more than 80,000-member database of...

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant Citrix on Tuesday scrambled out an emergency patch to cover a zero-day flaw in its networking product line and warned that...