Carter: I would consider pardoning Snowden after ‘he was sentenced to death’

Former US president Jimmy Carter says he would mull pardoning American whistleblower Edward Snowden if he returned to the country and was convicted of leaking of classified government documents and sentenced to death.

“If he was found guilty and sentenced to death, I would certainly consider pardon,” carter made the remarks during an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday.

“I would like to see him do it by executive order which I think he could,” said Carter, a vocal critic of the spying activities of the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Carter, however, said that he doesn’t have “the information President Obama has about what damage has been done to our security apparatus.”

89-year-old former president added that he would not pardon Snowden today as president, arguing “you can’t pardon someone who has not been tried and convicted.”

He made the remarks days after expressing his unhappiness about “probable” spying of NSA on his email.

Carter, in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, said that he does not use email when he wants to communicate with world leaders because he fears the government of President Barack Obama is spying on him.

“When I want to communicate with a foreign leader privately, I type or write the letter myself, put it in the Post Office and mail it, because I believe if I send an email, it will be monitored,” he explained during the interview.