WASHINGTON - The United States has filed espionage charges against Mr Edward Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor who admitted revealing secret surveillance programmes to media outlets, according to a court document made public yesterday (June 21).
Mr Snowden, who is believed to be in hiding in Hong Kong, was charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person, said the criminal complaint, which was dated June 14.
The latter two offenses fall under the US Espionage Act and carry penalties of fines and up to 10 years in prison.
A single page of the complaint was unsealed yesterday. An accompanying affidavit remained under seal.
The charges are the government’s first step in what could be a long legal battle to return Mr Snowden from Hong Kong and try him in a US court.
Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US was preparing to seek Mr Snowden’s extradition from Hong Kong, which is part of China but has wide-ranging autonomy, including an independent judiciary.
The Washington Post, which first reported the criminal complaint earlier yesterday, said the US had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.
There was no immediate response to requests for comment from Hong Kong’s security bureau.
Mr Snowden earlier this month admitted leaking secrets about classified US surveillance programmes, creating a public uproar. Supporters say he is a whistleblower, while critics call him a criminal and perhaps even a traitor.
He disclosed documents detailing US telephone and Internet surveillance efforts to the Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Mr Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located.
That judicial district has seen a number of high-profile prosecutions, including the spy case against former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and the case of Al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. Both were convicted. REUTERS
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