NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Requests Asylum In Russia

On Tuesday, NSA leaker Edward Snowden made a request to seek asylum in Russia.

If granted, the American intelligence-leaker may be allowed to leave Moscow's international airport, where he has been staying for the last three weeks, stated a Russian lawyer who helped him with the request, according to CNN.  He would even be able to live in Russia and travel abroad for at least a year if the request is granted, explained Anatoly Kucherena, a member of Russia's Public Chamber, a citizen's advisory council. 

On Tuesday, Kucherena said he met with Snowden at the airport to explain to him the rules governing temporary asylum, then watched as the American handed his application to a government official who had been invited to Sheremetyevo to receive it, reports the Washington Post.

Appearing on Russian television, Kucherena said Snowden wrote that his life would be under threat and that he fears torture and persecution in the United States. He has been charged with violating the Espionage Act for publicizing top-secret info about the National Security Agency's data gathering program.

Moscow has sought to keep its distance from Snowden since he arrived at the transit zone at Sheremetyevo Airport on June 23, and has been reluctant to expel him to the United States or to let him live on Russian territory.

The Federal Migration Service has up to three months to consider Snowden's application. Temporary asylum, by law, is good for one year, but it can be extended.

In the meantime, the former CIA agent faces a continued stay at Sheremetyevo or a move to a government shelter for refugees, the head of the Federal Migration Service's Public Council, Vladimir Volokh.