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| FILE - In this July 25, 2013 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder speaks in Philadelphia. Holder tells Russia US won't seek death penalty for Edward Snowden. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Attorney General Eric Holder has assured the Russian government
that the U.S. has no plans to seek the death penalty for former National
Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden.
In
a letter dated Tuesday, the attorney general said the criminal charges
Snowden now faces in this country do not carry the death penalty and the
U.S. will not seek his execution even if he is charged with additional
serious crimes.
Holder says his letter follows
news reports that Snowden, who leaked details of two top secret U.S.
surveillance programs, has filed papers seeking temporary asylum in
Russia on grounds that if he were returned to the United States he would
be tortured and would face the death penalty.
Snowden
has been charged with three offenses in the U.S., including espionage,
and could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The attorney general's letter was sent to Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov, the Russian minister of justice.
Holder's
letter is part of an ongoing campaign by the U.S. government to get
Snowden back. When Snowden arrived at Moscow's international airport a
month ago, he was believed to be planning simply to transfer to a flight
to Cuba and then to Venezuela to seek asylum. But the U.S. canceled his
passport, stranding him. He hasn't been seen in public since, although
he met with human rights activists and lawyers. He has applied for
temporary asylum in Russia and has said he'd like to visit the countries
that offered him permanent asylum - Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
The
attorney general's letter may allay reported Russian concerns about how
Snowden might be treated if he is deported to the U.S.
Some
Russian politicians, including parliament speaker Sergei Naryshkin,
have said Snowden should be granted asylum to protect him from the death
penalty.
If Snowden were to go to a country
that opposes the death penalty, providing assurances that the U.S. won't
seek the death penalty may remove at least one obstacle to his return
to the U.S.
"I can report that the United
States is prepared to provide to the Russian government the following
assurances regarding the treatment Mr. Snowden would face upon return to
the United States," Holder wrote. "First, the United States would not
seek the death penalty for Mr. Snowden should he return to the United
States." In addition, "Mr. Snowden will not be tortured. Torture is
unlawful in the United States," Holder's letter said.
The
attorney general said that if Snowden returned to the U.S. he would
promptly be brought before a civilian court and would receive "all the
protections that United States law provides."
Holder
also said that "we understand from press reports and prior
conversations between our governments that Mr. Snowden believes that he
is unable to travel out of Russia and must therefore take steps to
legalize his status. That is not accurate; he is able to travel."
Despite
the revocation of Snowden's passport on June 22, Snowden remains a U.S.
citizen and is eligible for a limited validity passport good for direct
return to the United States, said the attorney general.
Snowden,
who is believed to have been staying at the Moscow airport transit zone
since June 23, applied for temporary asylum in Russia last week.
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said Russia has not budged from its refusal to extradite Snowden.
Asked
by a reporter whether the government's position had changed, Dmitry
Peskov told Russian news agencies that "Russia has never extradited
anyone and never will." There is no U.S.-Russia extradition treaty.
Peskov
also said that Putin is not involved in reviewing Snowden's application
or discussions of the ex-NSA contractor's future with the U.S., though
the Russian Security Service, the FSB, had been in touch with the FBI.
While
he awaits asylum, from several countries, Snowden has not overtly
threatened to release more damaging documents. The journalist through
whom he has been working, Glenn Greenwald, has said that blueprints
detailing how the NSA operates will be made public if something should
happen to Snowden.
Putin has said that if Snowden releases any more of the materials, Russia will not grant him temporary asylum.
There's
little chance Snowden will be able to use what information he has as a
bargaining chip to negotiate his prosecution or extradition. Giving in
to threats would risk opening the door for others to take similar action
in the future.
The government must take the
position: "We don't negotiate with extortionists," said Michael
Chertoff, the former head of the Justice Department's criminal division
and former secretary of homeland security. Chertoff said he can't recall
a case in which the U.S. government has caved under this type of
threat.
U.S. officials have said what Snowden
already released will harm national security, though it's too early to
tell what damage has been done. The U.S. intelligence community has a
good idea of what other documents he has.
