Russia hints Snowden may be hunted if he travel freely in Moscow

A Russian immigration official has hinted that US spy agency whistleblower Edward Snowden may be assassinated if decides to travel freely once admitted to the country as a political refugee.

“I don’t think it is good for Snowden to travel freely in Russia, as he is a wanted man,” said Vladimir Volokh, press secretary of Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS), quoted in a Monday report by Moscow-based RT.

Volokh is further cited in the report as cautioning Snowden against leaving the Moscow airport at all, calling it a “bad idea,” and emphasizing that Russia cannot guarantee the personal security of the leaker of NSA’s global electronic spying programs beyond the airport’s gates.

The stark warnings come nearly a week after Snowden, who is actively sought by the US government as a fugitive leaker of national secrets, submitted an asylum application to Russia as Washington has annulled his passport and has reportedly put out a global warrant for his arrest.

Earlier this month some European allies of the US took the extraordinary step of closing their airspace to the presidential aircraft of Bolivian President Evo Morales, en route to La Paz from Moscow, and forcing it to land in Austrian capital of Vienna on the US-led suspicion that Snowden is onboard the plane.

The measure came following reports that Bolivia, along with three other Latin American states, had offered to grant asylum to Snowden despite US vows of severe consequences.

The move sparked outrage and harsh protests against the European governments of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal by a number of Latin American leaders and eventually led to official letters of apologies by the EU states.

Meanwhile, according to the RT report, once Snowden is admitted to Russia, he faces “invasive medical tests, a placement in a refugee center, and round-the-clock security observation… in the coming weeks” when he finally steps out the Moscow airport.

Although FMS can take up to three month to consider an asylum application, the report cites prominent Russian lawyer Antoly Kucherena as saying that Snowden is “impatiently awaiting news that could come any time,” declining to elaborate.

This is while FMS authorities have said a decision could be issued “within one working week,” while adding that they need to verify whether Edward Snowden is who he says he is, since his passport has been annulled by the US government, and they currently know his name “only from his own statements.”

If the application is accepted and Snowden is given the 12-month temporary asylum, the report notes, he could then leave the transit area of Sheremetyevo airport, but “will have to undergo a daunting medical assessment designed especially for immigrants.”

“Even if Snowden does acquire a personal bodyguard and a heavily guarded flat at an undisclosed location – presumably courtesy of the Russian state – his future is hazy, and the reality of it is likely different to what he imagined when he recorded his first revelations,” the RT report underlines.

It further notes that while a temporary asylum seeker is allowed to work, in the case of Snowden it would not be allowed at the cost of putting “further strain on the testy relationship between Moscow and Washington.”

Vladimir Putin said “no longer undermining the US” is a pre-condition for Snowden asylum bid, and the former NSA contractor publicly pledged to comply with it when he recently met with Russian human rights activists.

“Snowden is here because he has been trapped,” influential Russian political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, who edits Russia in Global Affairs, is quoted as saying in the report. “He will definitely not be allowed to carry on leaking data. In all likelihood, Snowden will have nothing to do in Russia.”