14/12/2013 16:05
US government considers amnesty for Snowden
National Security Agency is considering a deal with its with former contractor Edward Snowden that would give amnesty to the leaker charged with espionage if he stops disclosing secret documents. He will also be able to return back home and avoid prosecution if the American government agrees to an amnesty deal that would likely put an embargo on the stolen cache of files, the Voice of Russia said.
“I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured, and my bar for those assurances would be very high. It would be more than just an assertion on his part,” Rick Leggett, NSA official, told CBS News’ John Miller.
“It’s not unanimous,” Leggett added, however, and NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander admits that he isn’t exactly in favor of suspending charges against Snowden, who is accused of theft and espionage.
Alexander admitted to Miller that the entire situation is quite a dilemma, but said that in his opinion, “I think people have to be held accountable for their actions.”
Alexander believes that if Snowden’s granted amnesty other government employees or contractors with access to sensitive information could consider it a go-ahead from the federal government to leak documents on their own accord and know a life-time imprisonment isn’t the only possible outcome.