Former Attorney General Eric Holder has credited NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with spurring a “necessary debate,” and stated Monday he believes that the “possibility exists” that the Justice Department could work out a deal to potentially return him to the United States.
Following the attorney’s comment, Edward Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena spoke to Sputnik on Tuesday saying, “I believe that the statement Holder made following his retirement is his personal opinion. Although the fact that the former US Attorney General makes such statements indicates that situation is not that simple.”
“Recently we constantly hear the State Department say that Snowden has committed a crime and must be brought to justice. But it seems to me that the US courts must not be linked to a political power and the case of Snowden should be exclusively with the US Department of Justice,” Kucherena told Sputnik.
He further said that Edward Snowden did not violate the US law; hence, “prosecuting a person on the basis of national stance or inner convictions is unacceptable.”
Russia has not received any requests for the extradition of Edward Snowden, lawyer told Sputnik.
"Russia has not received any applications, requests for his extradition, and discussing this today is very difficult, because, in order for Edward to defend himself, he needs to understand what he must defend himself from. But no such documents have been addressed to Russia," Kucherena said.
“The more I talk to Edward, the more I am convinced that he is a true patriot of the United States and he would certainly be willing to go back, but today we see that the case is not in the legal but a political plane and even assuming that it will be an honest, fair trial is impossible.”
