MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) – US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden will ask the Russian law enforcement authorities for protection after having received death threats against him disseminated by the US media, his Russian lawyer said Tuesday.
“We are concerned with the situation around Edward. We see statements made by some US officials containing potential and implicit threats to his life,” Anatoly Kucherena told reporters.
One such threat, attributed to a US intelligence officer, describes in detail how Snowden, who is living in Russia after having been granted temporary asylum here, could be easily assassinated in Moscow.
“This is a real death threat, and we are concerned that it has prompted no reaction from anybody. That is why we will file a request to the police. … We will ask the [Russian] law enforcement to investigate all such statements,” Kucherena said.
The lawyer said a death threat carries criminal liability under Russian law, while Snowden’s refugee status gives him equal rights as Russian citizens and allows him to ask for police protection in the country.
Kucherena also said Snowden’s US legal adviser, Ben Wizner, would take relevant steps in the United States to identify officials from the National Security Agency who called for Snowden’s assassination.
Snowden, a 30-year-old former employee of the CIA and the NSA, hit the media spotlight after he leaked to reporters information about extensive surveillance programs by the US government that allegedly targeted millions of people around the world.
