Dissidents always get mud slung at them. The only really surprising thing is that the people who receptive to the mudslinging are oblivious to how they are being manipulated.

It's the same with an average dim Russian's opinion on Navalny as it is with an average dim American's opinion on Snowden and Assange.

And he's ended up being a pawn, a pawn currently not being used, but I can't imagine it's relaxing to live in a country where any moment the security services can take him and say "Mr. Putin has decided to extradite you to the US in exchange for...".

Well not "extradition" in the traditional sense, since Snowden is now a Russian citizen and they don't have an extradition treaty, but hey in a lawless place, anything is possible, they can just ship him to a US-friendly country who will then deliver him the rest of the way.

I wonder if he's got a hiding strategy figured out, with wife and kid(s). Russia's a big place after all.

Nobody is ever “forced to collaborate”: Collaboration as a concept isn’t coherent if it’s ultimately involuntary.