Snowden meets rights groups, seeks asylum in Russia
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Edward Snowden (middle) appears in a meeting with human rights groups at Moscow airport. [File photo] |
The U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden on Friday met with Russian human rights activists and lawyers at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and a Russian parliamentarian said he intends to apply for permanent political asylum in Russia.
Vyacheslav Nikonov, a member of the State Duma, said Snowden has accepted the Kremlin's condition that he must stop harming U.S. interests if he wants to stay in Russia.
Nikonov was among about a dozen activists and officials who met with Snowden in the transit zone at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he has been marooned for weeks.
Related paperwork for the asylum request would take weeks, said Nikonov, adding that Snowden said he felt safe at the airport.
Earlier reports quoting other sources said Snowden intends to seek temporary asylum in Russia before he could fly to Latin America eventually.
This meeting is Snowden's first public appearance since he left Hong Kong last month.
The airport's press service said 13 people went into the meeting, which is going on in a room in the transit zone.
He said he felt his living conditions were fine at the airport, but he knows he cannot stay here for ever, according to a live coverage by the Guardian.
Journalists could report from the public zone, but not the transit zone, where Snowden is stranded, and the airport would offer necessary assistance, an airport official said.
By 4 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), hundreds of reporters had crowded into the airport building and were interviewing lawyers and rights campaigners invited to the meeting.
The former U.S. spy agency contractor intended to demonstrate his attitude toward the U.S. government's campaign of his persecution, "as a result of which passengers of flights bound for Latin American countries are now in danger," the Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source at the airport administration as saying.
He was also preparing a statement condemning the U.S. administration's encroachment of international laws, local media reported.
Russian and foreign human rights activists from more than 10 organizations as well as some lawyers and parliamentarians were invited to the meeting. Top Russian lawyers Genry Reznik and Anatoli Kucherena confirmed to Xinhua that they had accepted invitations.
Reznik and some experts speculated that Snowden might formally ask for political asylum in Russia during the meeting.
Those invited to the meeting would be given a one-time permit and go via Terminal E to the transit zone, an airport press official told Xinhua.
Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said Snowden's proposed meeting in the airport transit zone did not violate international or Russian laws.
"People are allowed to enter this area, and he is allowed to stay there," he told reporters.
Russian commissioner for human rights Vladimir Lukin also received an invitation. He said he was ready to meet Snowden. Snowden did not ask to meet Kremlin representatives, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The spokesperson said it was not an issue for the Kremlin, and the Russian government "has nothing to do with either Snowden or his problem."
Snowden, charged by the U.S. government with three felonies, including two under the Espionage Act, arrived at the airport on June 23. He could neither cross the Russian border, nor buy another air ticket out since he does not have a Russian visa and his U.S. passport has been canceled.
On Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities said Caracas would contact the Russian government on security measures and provide humanitarian asylum to Snowden in accordance with international law, regardless of an extradition demand from the United States.
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