WASHINGTON, August 9 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Lon Snowden, the father of US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, has applied for a visa to visit Russia and hopes to meet with his fugitive son in Russia next week, the father’s attorney told RIA Novosti on Friday.
“We’ve made the request to arrange the visit by August 17,” Lon Snowden’s lawyer, Bruce Fein, said in a telephone interview. “We’re waiting for visas, and expect to hear something in a matter of hours.”
The younger Snowden, a former US intelligence contractor, is wanted by the United States on espionage and theft charges after leaking classified information about the US National Security Agency’s sweeping telephone and electronic surveillance programs.
He received temporary asylum from Russia last week, and is legally free to travel around the country, much to the dismay of the US administration and members of Congress.
In addition to concerns about Edward Snowden’s safety and security, Fein said, “we are concerned that whatever legal representation Ed decides on in the United States, he should be sure they have the uniqueness of legal experience in espionage cases here.”
“You’ve not heard a single word about the presumption of innocence, but you’ve had members of Congress saying, ‘Edward Snowden’s a traitor,’ the secretary of state saying he betrayed his country, the president deriding him," the attorney said.
“So if you ask me today can he get a fair trial in the United States, I would have to say no, but it’s our job to change that,” he added.
