Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has told a Russian official that the United States will not seek the death penalty for Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who released classified documents to reporters about U.S. surveillance and has been holed up in a Moscow airport.
In a bid to prevent Snowden from being granted asylum by Russia, Holder wrote a letter to the Russian justice minister, saying that while Snowden has been charged with theft and espionage he would not face the death penalty if returned to the United States.
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Officials fear that Snowden gained access to sensitive files that outline espionage operations against Chinese leaders and other critical targets.
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Read the full letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to the Russian Minister of Justice.
“The charges he faces do not carry that possibility, and the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes,” Holder wrote to Justice Minister Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov.
The letter was dated Tuesday and released by the Justice Department on Friday.
Holder also told Konovalov that Snowden would not be tortured if he returned to the United States and would be tried in a civilian rather than a military court, with the full protection of U.S. law.
“Torture is unlawful in the United States,” Holder 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 .
In a bid to prevent Snowden from being granted asylum by Russia, Holder wrote a letter to the Russian justice minister, saying that while Snowden has been charged with theft and espionage he would not face the death penalty if returned to the United States.
Latest on this storyThe big story
Officials fear that Snowden gained access to sensitive files that outline espionage operations against Chinese leaders and other critical targets.
Full coverage
Read the full letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to the Russian Minister of Justice.“The charges he faces do not carry that possibility, and the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes,” Holder wrote to Justice Minister Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov.
The letter was dated Tuesday and released by the Justice Department on Friday.
Holder also told Konovalov that Snowden would not be tortured if he returned to the United States and would be tried in a civilian rather than a military court, with the full protection of U.S. law.
“Torture is unlawful in the United States,” Holder 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 .