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Reporters Without Borders Condemns German Justice Minister’s Call for Snowden to Surrender

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Berlin office of the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders condemned the comments of German Justice Minister Heiko Maas who advised the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden to return to the United States and to face trial.

MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) - Berlin office of the international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders condemned the comments of German Justice Minister Heiko Maas who advised the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden to return to the United States and to face trial.

“Instead of advising Edward Snowden to surrender to the US, where he could face a long jail term, the Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas would better publicly advocate that the federal government guarantees Snowden safe stay in Germany," spokesman for Reporters Without Borders Michael Rediske said Tuesday.

“It is a scandal that Snowden should have to live in a country like Russia, which tramples press freedom under its feet and spies on its own citizens’ telephone and internet connections,” Rediske said.

In an interview with news agency DPA published Tuesday Heiko Maas said that Snowden doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life being hunted.

“He is only in his early thirties and would definitely not want to spend the rest of his life being chased around the world or applying for one asylum after another,” Maas said.

In June 2013, Snowden leaked information about the extensive electronic surveillance programs conducted by the US government around the globe, including eavesdropping on US citizens and foreign leaders. The revelations strained relationships between Washington and their European partners.

The United States charged Snowden with espionage and revoked his passport. Snowden is now settled in Russia, which granted him asylum status for a year. As the term ended in July 2014, Snowden applied for an extension of his stay.

Back at home, Snowden is accused of theft, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified documents to an unauthorized person. Each of the three charges carries a maximum possible prison term of 10 years.

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