Clinton recommends that Snowden not return to the US

US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that former intelligence officer Edward Snowden should not return to the US from Russia.

Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton's main competitor, said in turn that Snowden had a great influence on educating Americans about violations of civil liberty and constitutional rights. However, he stressed that this does not mean that Snowden should not be punished.

In 2013, Edward Snowden made public through the media a large amount of classified material about the activities of the NSA, which led to loud international scandals. His revelations of the American intelligence services also caused a diplomatic scandal when it became known that the National Security Agency had been intercepting 35 telephone conversations of the heads of various states, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

At the end of June 2013, during a transit flight from Hong Kong to Havana via Moscow, Snowden found out that the US authorities canceled his passport. In the US, Snowden was accused in absentia of divulging confidential information and stealing state property.

Snowden stayed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where he spent more than a month sending requests for asylum to different countries, and 1 August 2013, Snowden received asylum in Russia. In August 2014, the American was granted a Russian residence permit for another three years.

At home in the United States, Snowden faces a sentence of prolonged imprisonment. Representatives of the US administration have repeatedly stated that they consider Snowden to be a traitor who has seriously damaged national security interests.

Earlier, Forum wrote that Snowden готов go to jail for the return home.