Russia: Edward Snowden, a former American intelligence contractor, was granted Russian citizenship on Monday by President Vladimir Putin, nine years after he revealed the scope of the National Security Agency’s covert monitoring operations (NSA).
When Snowden, 39, exposed in 2013 that the NSA, where he worked, had engaged in extensive domestic and foreign surveillance operations, he was forced to leave the country and was granted refuge in Russia.
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He has been wanted by American authorities to return home for years so that he might stand trial for espionage there.
Snowden’s name appeared on a list of 72 people who were born abroad and were being granted citizenship by Putin, but there was no instant response from him.
2020 saw Russia award Snowden rights to indefinite residency, opening the door for him to apply for Russian citizenship.
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In the same year, a U.S. appeals court determined that the programme Snowden had revealed was illegal and that the public justifications offered by U.S. intelligence officials were false.
The disclosure of American secrets by Snowden, who keeps a low profile while residing in Russia, was wrong, but he wasn’t a traitor, according to Putin, a former head of the Russian intelligence service.
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