Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden seeks to extend Russian visa as it risks expiring

As his Russian visa is set to expire on July 31, Edward Snowden filed the paper work to extend his refuge in the country.

11:36 10 July 2014

Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia last year, seeks to extend his Russian visa before it expires on July 31. His legal representative, Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency: "We have filed documents to extend his stay on the territory of Russia.”

The 31-year-old national security contractor was fired by the National Security Agency (NSA) last year and felony charges were filed against him after he revealed classified program files that showed massive surveillance of private citizens' emails, phone calls, and texts in pursuit of terrorists’ communications. 

During his yearlong stay in Russia, Snowden indicated in interviews that he misses his homeland, the United States, but will only come home if he could be assured of getting a fair trial on the espionage charges that was filed against him by the U.S. Justice Department. Each felony charge carries a 10-year prison term on conviction.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said that Snowden cannot be compared to Pentagon Papers leakers Daniel Ellsberg, a former military analyst who secretly photocopied and distributed the 7,000-page study saying that the US government knew that Vietnam War couldn’t be won.

"If this man is a patriot, he should stay in the United States and make his case,” Kerry said. "Edward Snowden is a coward, he is a traitor, and he has betrayed his country. And if he wants to come home tomorrow to face the music, he can do so."