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In fact, nobody is punishing him. He chose to flee the country to escape consequences for his actions.
by caskance 11y ago
In fact, nobody is punishing him. He chose to flee the country to escape consequences for his actions.
- Alupis 11y agoConsequences were going to be a secret military trial where the death penalty was on the table. He has stated many times he will come back and stand trial, so long as it's a fair public trial in civilian courts (because he was/is a civilian). The US Gov't is unwilling to provide this more fair trial.
- caskance 11y agoI think you're confusing Snowden with Manning. Snowden is not in the military and is not subject to UCMJ. Perhaps what you meant is that some evidence, being classified, would not be released to the public? That does go against what Snowden asked for, but there's nothing military about that. It's also IMO an unreasonable demand unless the information in question is a subset of what he already leaked, which is unlikely.
- fineman 11y agoNope, the death penalty is definitely on the table based on the charges we've heard bandied about. And the issue isn't that some evidence is classified, but that all evidence Snowden would want to present is classified. Even his motivation is based on works that are claimed to be classified.
- caskance 11y agoI didn't say capital punishment was or wasn't on the table. I said it wasn't a military trial. Those are two completely orthogonal issues. If Snowden can't present a single piece of evidence in his defense that isn't classified, I don't think he's got much of a case. Last I checked, the constitution isn't classified.
- Alupis 11y agoCome off it. You can't have a fair trial where 99% of the evidence is not allowed to be submitted. The US has Whistle-Blower laws for a reason, yet the US Government is not allowing them to cover his case. Until a guarantee of a free trial, he has stated he'll remain where he's at. And that's entirely reasonable.
- caskance 11y agoRegardless of what Snowden thinks, evidence submitted doesn't have to be made public. Due to his contractor status, it's unclear which whistleblower protections would cover him, but that's something that can be established during trial. It's clear that Snowden and his supporters believe that a "fair" trial means one where he's exonerated. That's unreasonable.