Interfax: Snowden must apply for extension if he decides to stay in Russia – head of Federal Migration Service council

Edward Snowden file photo

MOSCOW. June 2 (Interfax) – Former CIA analyst Edward Snowden will have to ask for extension of his temporary asylum if he decides to stay in Russia, Vladimir Volokh, the head of the Public Council of the Federal Migration Service, told Interfax on Monday.

“He has to request an extension of his temporary stay. No additional documents are filed if the circumstances have not changed. He has to make a written request for the extension of his temporary asylum,” Volokh said, adding that temporary asylum is not extended automatically.

In August 2013, Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia after spending over a month in the transit zone of the Moscow airport Sheremetyevo.

On Monday, it was reported that Snowden is ready to leave Russia for Brazil if he is given such an opportunity.

Svetlana Gannushkin a, a human rights activist and head of the committee Civil Assistance, told Interfax on Monday that Russia should grant Snowden temporary asylum for another year.

“Generally, I believe Snowden should file documents for refugee status. He has not arrived from a war zone and he does not have to file documents for humanitarian reasons. He is experiencing personal persecution and I am surprised that he has received temporary asylum, not refugee status. However, his temporary asylum should be extended because nothing has changed,” Gannushkina said.

In the U.S., Snowden is charged in absentia of stealing state property, unauthorized access to defense information, and deliberate provisions of secret information to foreign special services. He is facing up to ten years in prison on each count.

 

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