MOSCOW — Edward Snowden, the fugitive former U.S. security contractor, left the transit zone at Moscow’s international airport Thursday after receiving permission from the Kremlin to enter Russian territory.
Anatoly Kucherena, an attorney for Snowden, said documents allowing Snowden to live in Russia while his application for permanent political asylum is pending were issued Thursday. Snowden, 30, had been stranded in Russia’s Sheremetyevo Airport for more than five weeks.
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“I have just seen him off. He has left for a secure location,” Kucherena told the state broadcaster Russia 24.
Kucherena described Snowden as “the most wanted man on the planet” and said he “needed time to adapt to Russian realities.”
[VIEW: Photos of Snowden.]
The lawyer said arrangements are being made for Snowden’s father to visit him in Russia, the Associated Press reported. In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Lon Snowden said he was eager to speak with his son but had refused an FBI offer to fly him to Moscow while his son was trapped at the airport, because U.S. authorities could not guarantee that the two would be able to meet.
“If he comes back to the United States, he is going to be treated horribly,” Lon Snowden said. “He is going to be thrown into a hole. He is not going to be allowed to speak.”
Snowden is wanted in the United States for leaking classified documents about telephone and e-mail surveillance programs. The documents issued Thursday will allow Snowden to live in Russia for up to one year, the lawyer said.
U.S. authorities repeatedly asked Russia to turn Snowden over to them so that he could be prosecuted for leaking the documents, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in June that Russia was defying international convention by allowing the fugitive to remain unhindered in the transit zone.
“There are standards of behavior between sovereign nations,” Kerry said. “There is common law. There is respect for rule of law.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, said he saw no reason for Russian to extradite Snowden to the United States. He said that for Snowden to remain in Russia, he would have to refrain from releasing information that is damaging to the United States. Putin added that the case should not be allowed to damage Russian-U.S. ties.
“If he wants to stay here, there is one condition,” Putin said July 1. “He has to stop his work undermining our U.S. partners, as odd as it may sound coming from me.”
The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday published a new report on U.S. intelligence-gathering based on information from Snowden, but Kucherena said the material was provided before Snowden promised to stop leaking, the Associated Press reported.
Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela have offered Snowden refuge, but pressure from Washington and concerns that the United States or Europe might block him from traveling through their airspace — his U.S. passport has been revoked — have prevented him from leaving Russia.
Anatoly Kucherena, an attorney for Snowden, said documents allowing Snowden to live in Russia while his application for permanent political asylum is pending were issued Thursday. Snowden, 30, had been stranded in Russia’s Sheremetyevo Airport for more than five weeks.
Latest on this storyThe big story
The Obama administration made public the previously classified directive to Verizon to turn over a vast number of Americans' phone records.
Full coverage
Related:
Jerry Markon Elder Snowden defends his son, says he wants him to remain in Russia.
Jerry Markon Lon Snowden talks about his family, his son’s work with the CIA and his concerns for his future.
Ellen Nakashima Obama administration faces growing political skepticism about the counterterrorism program.
“I have just seen him off. He has left for a secure location,” Kucherena told the state broadcaster Russia 24.
Kucherena described Snowden as “the most wanted man on the planet” and said he “needed time to adapt to Russian realities.”
[VIEW: Photos of Snowden.]
The lawyer said arrangements are being made for Snowden’s father to visit him in Russia, the Associated Press reported. In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Lon Snowden said he was eager to speak with his son but had refused an FBI offer to fly him to Moscow while his son was trapped at the airport, because U.S. authorities could not guarantee that the two would be able to meet.
“If he comes back to the United States, he is going to be treated horribly,” Lon Snowden said. “He is going to be thrown into a hole. He is not going to be allowed to speak.”
Snowden is wanted in the United States for leaking classified documents about telephone and e-mail surveillance programs. The documents issued Thursday will allow Snowden to live in Russia for up to one year, the lawyer said.
U.S. authorities repeatedly asked Russia to turn Snowden over to them so that he could be prosecuted for leaking the documents, and Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in June that Russia was defying international convention by allowing the fugitive to remain unhindered in the transit zone.
“There are standards of behavior between sovereign nations,” Kerry said. “There is common law. There is respect for rule of law.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, said he saw no reason for Russian to extradite Snowden to the United States. He said that for Snowden to remain in Russia, he would have to refrain from releasing information that is damaging to the United States. Putin added that the case should not be allowed to damage Russian-U.S. ties.
“If he wants to stay here, there is one condition,” Putin said July 1. “He has to stop his work undermining our U.S. partners, as odd as it may sound coming from me.”
The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday published a new report on U.S. intelligence-gathering based on information from Snowden, but Kucherena said the material was provided before Snowden promised to stop leaking, the Associated Press reported.
Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela have offered Snowden refuge, but pressure from Washington and concerns that the United States or Europe might block him from traveling through their airspace — his U.S. passport has been revoked — have prevented him from leaving Russia.