Interfax: Actions of U.S. special services force Snowden to ask for asylum, Russian special services have nothing to do with it – Kucherena

Edward Snowden file photo

(Interfax – January 22, 2014) The Russian special services have nothing to do with the flight of former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told Interfax on Wednesday.

“All these conversations about the FSB [Russian Federal Security Service] involvement in some special operation related to Edward and his deeds are utter nonsense and provocation. The U.S. authorities were the ones to force him to do this,” Kucherena said.

Snowden “initially intended to fly to Latin America and did not plan to end up in Moscow,” the attorney said.

“The U.S. authorities, who deprived him of his U.S. passport, to caused him to be banned from travel and forced him to seek asylum in Russia,” Kucherena said.

As to the accusations made by U.S. congressmen of Snowden\’s cooperation with the Russian special services, Kucherena said: “I think that if he ended up in Ecuador as he planned initially, Edward would be accused of ties with the special services of this country. I say with certainty that the same would be if in some way he had ended up in the Netherlands for example.”

Snowden did not establish contact with the Russian special services, founder of the WikiLeaks website Julian Assange has said.

Heads of the intelligence committees of both houses of the U.S. Congress have said that Snowden might have ties with Russia’s FSB and that the Russian special services might be involved in the scandalous revelations of the activities of the U.S. National Security Agency made by Snowden.

Comment