[ad_1]
MOSCOW, Dec. 3 (AP) Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who escaped prosecution after disclosing a highly classified surveillance program, has received a Russian passport, Russian news agencies said Friday, citing his lawyer. And take the oath of citizenship.
Attorney Anatoly Kucherena reportedly said Snowden received his passport and was sworn in on Thursday, around the time Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him citizenship three months later.
Read also | Pakistani-British MP Sajid Javid is set to step down in the 2024 general election.
The report did not specify whether Snowden had renounced his U.S. citizenship. The United States revoked his passport in 2013, leaving Snowden stranded at Moscow airport for weeks after arriving from Hong Kong, with the aim of traveling to Ecuador.
Russia eventually granted him permanent residency. He married American Lindsay Mills in 2017 and the couple have two children.
Read also | Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will serve as finance minister in the new cabinet.
Snowden leaked documents on NSA data collection through the infrastructure of US phone and internet companies. He also released details about the classified U.S. intelligence budget and the extent of U.S. surveillance of foreign officials, including leaders of U.S. allies.
Snowden said he disclosed the information because he believed the U.S. intelligence community had gone too far and violated civil liberties. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link