Edward Snowden’s Asylum in Russia Extended

Russia announced it would extend asylum to former NSA analyst Edward Snowden beyond the original year they had promised.

Russia announced Friday it would extend asylum to Edward Snowden beyond the original year they granted him back in June 2013.

Russia's Foreign Affairs Committee head Alexy Pushkov made the announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, CNN reported. He said that they would not send Snowden back to the United States after his original year of asylum ends in June.

This is good news for the former analyst that worked for a contractor under the National Security Agency until he leaked secrets about questionable U.S. intelligence gathering methods. Snowden has become one of America's most wanted and there doesn't seem to be a possibility for him to receive the whistle-blower protection he says he deserves.

[READ: Pentagon Report Says Snowden NSA Leaks Risk Lives]

In an online chat Thursday Snowden said that while he hoped to return home to the U.S. someday, he would be unwilling to do so until whistle-blower protection laws were reformed to cover him.

"There are so many holes in the laws, the protections they afford are so weak, and the processes for reporting they provide are so ineffective that they appear to be intended to discourage reporting of even the clearest wrongdoing," he wrote.

Snowden indicated that his return to the U.S. "is the best resolution for all parties," but "it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistle-blower protection laws."

[ALSO: Edward Snowden: Missions Already Accomplished]

Snowden has been charged with espionage and theft of government property but said that due to certain laws he would not be allowed to contend that he was acting in the public interest by revealing the U.S. surveillance programs, United Press International reports.

Follow this link:

Edward Snowden's Asylum in Russia Extended