MONITORING DESK
ISLAMABAD: Former intelligence contractor of the US Edward Snowden, who exposed the secret operations of the US and surveillance network by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the US has taken allegiance oath to Russia and has received a Russian passport.
Russian news agency TASS reported that Snowden received a Russian passport and took the oath, revealed Snowden’s counselor Anatoly Kucherena.
Spokesman of the White House, John Kirby, told reporters on development that this is still a criminal investigative matter. He declined questions about the report of Snowden received by the United States Department of Justice.
The US is continuously keeping Snowden on the wanted list for years to bring Snowden to face a trial on espionage charges made against him by US authorities.
Spy Snowden fled US after leaking secret files
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden, who successfully fled the US after leaking secret files and surveillance data.
Snowden’s leaked data exposed the substantial spying and surveillance operations and activities of the United States and its major Western allies.
Taking on Twitter, Snowden said he stays in Russia because the United States had willfully canceled his passport and tried to trap him here in Russia. By referring to the events of 2013, Snowden said that the US also downed the diplomatic aircraft of Bolivia’s President to prevent him from traveling, and the White House is continuously interfering in my freedom and movement till now.
Snowden claims US action against former Bolivia president Evo Morales
Former US Spy contractor Snowden referred to an incident in July 2013 in his recent tweet when Bolivia registered a complaint about its diplomatic aircraft of carrying former president Evo Morales.
Bolivia’s president, which had departed from Russia en route to Bolivia, had been rerouted multiple times and forced to land in Austria. Bolivia stated this action as a US action over its suspicion that the former spy of the superpower Snowden was on board the diplomatic aircraft.
Defenders of Snowden praise him as a modern-day revolutionary for exposing the scope of US espionage, spying, and alleged violation of privacy rights.
Meanwhile, the opponents of Snowden refer to him as a traitor who threatens lives by mentioning the secret methods and processes that Western and US spies use to listen to and watch hostile states, militants, and opponents.
