Snowden’s father arrives in Moscow
Lon Snowden says he is grateful his son is “safe” but does not know what the US intelligence leaker’s plans are.
The father of US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has arrived in Russia, Russian television showed, for the first meeting with his son since the latter became a fugitive.
Lon Snowden arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday, where his son had spent more than a month in transit limbo before Moscow agreed to grant him temporary asylum.
Lon Snowden said he had had no direct contact with his son in recent months, and said he did not yet know what his plans were. “I really have no idea what his intentions are,” he said.
I’m not sure that my son will be returning to the US,” he told journalists. “That’s his decision, he’s an adult.”
“I have extreme gratitude that my son is safe, secure, and free” in Russia, he said, repeating that he believed his son to be a “whistleblower” rather than a criminal.
He was met by Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena.
Snowden arrived in Moscow on June 23 from Hong Kong with a revoked US passport.
There has been no reported sighting of him since he walked out of the airport on August 1 after obtaining temporary asylum in Russia despite protests from Washington.
The 30-year-old former CIA worker is wanted by the United States after revealing to the media details of massive domestic and foreign surveillance by the National Security Agency.
His lawyer Kucherena has said he is living in a secret location in fear of being tracked down by US law enforcers.