Putin grants Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden

npr.org

7 points·SamuelAdams··4 comments

I think at this point the right thing to do would be for him to turn this down.

I know the sentiment towards Snowden is mixed, but to accept this at this time from this person would definitely lower my opinion of Snowden. A lot. Just the fact he fled to Russia was a big red flag to me, but was willing to give some benefit of doubt knowing (well, guessing) what the default actions of the US would be. The US not granting Snowden's requests for surrendering is pretty telling. Major crime bosses get Easy St sentencing for violent crimes, yet they will not even openly state they will not disappear Snowden is embarassing.

Just the fact he fled to Russia

He didn't flee to Russia. He was en-route to somewhere in South America when his passport was cancelled during a flight changeover while he was in Moscow. He couldn't fly onwards without a valid passport. IIRC, he was stuck in the Moscow airport for days until the Russians allowed him a visa.

Yep. Here ya go: He was stuck in the transit area of Moscow airport for 40 days. (Longer than I remembered.) https://www.theregister.com/2016/09/12/edward_snowden_wikile...

Was he fleeing? Yes.

Did he land in Russia? Yes.

QED: He fled to Russia. It might not have been his first choice, but it is what happened.

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