Interfax
June 25, 2013
Russian Federation Council member anticipates new leaks concerning U.S. security services
MOSCOW: The drama involving NSA leaker Edward Snowden and the disclosure of classified information regarding the operation of U.S. special services will not be the last of its kind, says Igor Morozov, a veteran of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and currently a member of the Federation Council international affairs committee.
“We can talk about a trend with some degree of certainty today. There is the case of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, who has been taking refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year for fear of extradition. There is the case of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who has confessed to passing classified documents to the website WikiLeaks, and now we have Edward Snowden. It looks like these people will not be the last to disclose classified information on U.S. special services,” Morozov said in a Tuesday interview with Interfax.
“These people position themselves as lone fighters and see their mission in informing society of unsanctioned access to people’s private lives by special services,” he said.
Snowden has done a civic deed, and his actions are motivated by the desire to defend human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. constitution, Morozov said.
“Snowden is a model of a U.S. citizen raised in respect for the right of inviolability of privacy, and from this viewpoint, he is a hero to many Americans, and this is why a movement in his defense is gaining momentum in the U.S., which already numbers dozens of thousands of supporters,” he said.
Morozov pointed out that Snowden is acting not for financial gain. “And this circumstance is appealing to a lot of people. But, at the same time, making public unlawful actions of special services, Snowden has doomed himself to spend the rest of his life underground, because American special services will do everything possible and even impossible to find him and bring him to justice at home,” he said.
Morozov suggested that Snowden is working with professionals who have carefully planned the route of his travel and will ensure his legal defense.
“The fact that the not unknown jurist Baltasar Garzon, who became famous after issuing an arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, is a consultant to WikiLeaks speaks for itself. This man thoroughly knows all nuances of international law,” Morozov said.
There is a reason why Snowden has chosen the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo Airport, Morozov said. “In this transit zone, neither a passenger nor their luggage can be subjected to additional searches or inspections. Moreover, access to the transit zone is available only to someone with a special pass issued by the airport administration,” Morozov said.
The Russian Justice Ministry has repeatedly invited the U.S. to conclude a bilateral extradition agreement or join identical international treaties, Morozov said. “However, all of our initiatives have remained unanswered,” he said.
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