(CNN) - Hillary Clinton said Friday NSA leaker Edward Snowden should be able to defend himself if he returns to the United States.

"In any case that I'm aware of as a former lawyer, he has a right to mount a defense," she told the UK-based Guardian, which published classified documents last year that detailed U.S. surveillance programs and were obtained by Snowden. Clinton is in Europe promoting her new book, "Hard Choices."

"And he certainly has a right to launch both a legal defense and a public defense, which can of course affect the legal defense," Clinton continued.

Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia, where he's been living since last June. If he comes back to the U.S., he could face charges of espionage and theft of government property.

"Whether he chooses to return or not is up to him. He certainly can stay in Russia, apparently under Putin's protection, for the rest of his life if that's what he chooses. But if he is serious about engaging in the debate then he could take the opportunity to come back and have that debate," she said. "But that's his decision."

Bill Clinton on Snowden: An 'imperfect messenger'

Snowden told NBC News in May that he considers himself a patriot and felt that he was doing due diligence by unveiling the agency's spy secrets. He said he would eventually like to return to the United States.

"If I could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home," he said in the interview.

Clinton has been critical about Snowden in the past.

"His leaks revealed some of America's most sensitive classified intelligence programs," Clinton wrote in her new book, "Hard Choices."

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Hillary Clinton: Snowden has right to public defense

Hillary Clinton that if Edward Snowden really wants "debate" about NSA surveillance, he would submit himself to legal process she admits knowing very little about. (Images: file)In comments made to the Guardian newspaper on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of State and likely presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden should return home and face charges levied against him by the U.S. government.

"If he wishes to return knowing he would be held accountable and also able to present a defense, that is his decision to make," Clinton told the newspaper during an interview conducted over video stream.

Snowden, whose disclosures have led to global uproar surrounding U.S. government surveillance on the world's population, remains in Russia where has received asylum status. Both his lawyers and the former intelligence contractor himself have said that because he has been charged under the Espionage Act he would be denied protections afforded whistleblowers which would prevent him from arguing that his decision to leak the classified information was made in the name of the public interest.

According to the Guardian:

When Clinton was asked if she believed the Espionage Act passed in 1917 should be reformed in order to allow Snowden a defence, she claimed not to know what the whistleblower had been charged with as they were "sealed indictments".

"In any case that I'm aware of as a former lawyer, he has a right to mount a defence," she said. "And he certainly has a right to launch both a legal defence and a public defence, which can of course affect the legal defence.

"Whether he chooses to return or not is up to him. He certainly can stay in Russia, apparently under Putin's protection, for the rest of his life if that's what he chooses. But if he is serious about engaging in the debate then he could take the opportunity to come back and have that debate. But that's his decision."

As independent journalist and commentator Kevin Gosztola remarked, Clinton's response indicated the Democrat Party's most likely next presidential candidate "appears to know nothing about whistleblower cases or leak prosecutions."

In a pair of tweets, journalist Glenn Greenwald, a key journalist when it come to reporting on the revelations contained in the Snowden documents, made his feelings known about Clinton's remarks:

And poet and writer Djelloul Marbrook, responding on Twitter, also took issue with Clinton's comments, saying:

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Hillary Clinton: Snowden Should Submit to US Indictments

Hillary Clinton says NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden should return to the US and face charges levied against him by the US government.

Hillary Clinton says American whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden should return to the US if he is serious in engaging in debate about US spying programs.

In a video interview with the British newspaper The Guardian on Friday, Clinton also said that Snowden, who disclosed thousands of classified NSA documents, should be able to defend himself if he returns to the United States.

Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia where he's been living since last June. He faces charges of espionage and theft of government property in the US.

"Whether he chooses to return or not is up to him. He certainly can stay in Russia, apparently under [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's protection, for the rest of his life if that's what he chooses, Clinton said.

But if he is serious about engaging in the debate then he could take the opportunity to come back and have that debate. But that's his decision," she added.

Snowdens disclosures have led to global uproar surrounding US government surveillance on the world's population.

Clinton a former US Secretary of State, US senator and the wife of former US President Bill Clinton is expected to run for the White House in 2016. She ran in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, narrowly losing the nomination to President Barack Obama.

Clinton, who is on a two-day tour of Britain promoting her new memoir Hard Choices an account of her four years as secretary of state said she had not yet decided whether or not she intends to run for the US presidency in 2016.

AHT/ISH

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Clinton: Snowden should return to US