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The Globe and Mail reports that Edward Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena says the fugitive former US spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government’s mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home. “I won’t keep it secret that he … wants to return back home. And we are doing everything possible now to solve this issue. There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I’m dealing with it on the Russian side.” Kucherena added that Snowden is ready to return to the States, but on the condition that he is given a guarantee of a legal and impartial trial. The lawyer said Snowden had so far only received a guarantee from the US Attorney General that he will not face the death penalty. Kucherena says that Snowden is able to travel outside Russia since he has a three-year Russian residency permit, but "I suspect that as soon as he leaves Russia, he will be taken to the US embassy."
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday March 05 2015, @03:22AM
Well, that would depend on whether he's wearing out his welcome in Russia. Russia presumably granted him sanctuary in exchange for the political capital it granted them - capital which has likely run its course by this point. So, if he's going to lose his limited-duration residency in Russia, who else is realistically going to stand against the US juggernaut now that his media value has dwindled? Not just on paper, but actually carry enough weight to dissuade US covert ops from arranging an "accident"?
Basically, if he's screwed anyway he may as well try to accomplish as much as possible with the time he has left. And if he ends up in solitary for life - well that might be better than covert execution. At least there's a chance he would be pardoned somewhere down the line, and death is always an option if things get too unpleasant.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Thursday March 05 2015, @03:59AM
solitary confinement is torture. [io9.com] execution would be far preferable.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Thursday March 05 2015, @05:20AM
> execution would be far preferable.
That depends very much on the priorities and psychological profile of the person enduring it, many Buddhist monks voluntarily subject themselves to even more extreme isolation than decades of solitary for example. And like I said, death is (almost) always an option if the isolation becomes too much to bear. Inhale a piece of your blanket in the middle of the night and it's unlikely anyone will notice until it's too late . Why would you want to give your persecutors the satisfaction of dieing on their terms?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 05 2015, @09:42AM
Mmmm. I don't want to go into solitary confinement - but there are plenty of accounts of people who have endured it. It DOES separate the men from the boys. Given the choice between solitary and death, I'll choose solitary, thank you very much. IF, after months/years of solitary, I decide for myself that death is preferable, then I can arrange my own death in my own way. Of course - suicide would mean that the bastards won.