MOSCOW – Fugitive US whistle-blower Edward Snowden today said he has applied for Russian citizenship, but will keep his original nationality.
The former intelligence contractor, who revealed in 2013 that the US government was spying on its citizens, has been living in exile in Russia since the revelations.
Snowden’s tweet comes weeks after he was granted permanent residency in the country, and just days after his partner, Lindsay Mills, announced her pregnancy.
He tweeted: “After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son.”
The 37-year-old added that “in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship”.
Moscow only recently relaxed its strict citizenship laws to allow individuals to hold Russian passports without rejecting their original nationalities.
In the short thread, Snowden emphasised that he and Mills will “remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love – including the freedom to speak his mind”.
The former US contractor is wanted in his home country on espionage charges after he leaked information showing that National Security Agency agents were collecting telephone records from millions of citizens.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he will “take a look” at pardoning Snowden, but has not made further comments on the matter.
A 2015 petition calling on then president Barack Obama to pardon the whistle-blower was rejected by the White House. – AFP, November 2, 2020
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