斯諾登之父：兒子沒有背叛美國人民

Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden might voluntarily return to the United States if given assurances of his constitutional rights, his father said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Lonnie Snowden was "reasonably confident" his son, who faces espionage charges in the United States for alleged leaking of secret surveillance information, would return if certain conditions were met, the June 27 letter said. It was written by a lawyer on Snowden's behalf, and was obtained by Reuters.

The younger Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, should not be detained or imprisoned before trial, should not be subject to a gag order, and should be tried in a venue of his choosing, the letter said.

Edward Snowden, a U.S. citizen, fled the United States to Hong Kong in May, a few weeks before publication in the Guardian and the Washington Post of details he said he provided about U.S. government surveillance of Internet and phone traffic.

He has not been seen since he arrived in Moscow on Sunday, but Russian officials said he was in a transit area at Sheremetyevo airport. He has requested political asylum in Ecuador.

Representatives for the Justice Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the letter.

Lonnie Snowden said he was concerned that his son was being manipulated by others, including people from the anti-government secrecy group WikiLeaks, he said in an interview on NBC television earlier on Friday.

"I am concerned about those who surround him," he told NBC. "Wikileaks - if you look at past history - their focus isn't necessarily the Constitution of the United States. It's simply to release as much information as possible. So that alone is a concern for me."

Snowden's father said he has not had contact with his son since April, NBC reported.

"I love him. I would like to have the opportunity to communicate with him. I don't want to put him in peril," he said in the interview.

Snowden said he did not think his son had committed treason, even though he said Edward Snowden broke U.S. laws in releasing details about the federal monitoring programs.

"He has betrayed his government, but I don't believe that he's betrayed the people of the United States," he said.據路透社最新報道，斯諾登的父親近日在給美國司法部長埃裏克·霍爾德的信中說，前美國間諜機構僱員愛德華·斯諾登可能自願返回美國，但前提是他的憲法權利得到保證。

儘管目前愛德華·斯諾登在美國因涉嫌泄露祕密監視信息而面臨間諜指控，但他的父親朗尼·斯諾登在6月27日的信中表示，只要滿足某些條件，他“有理由相信”兒子會回到美國。 這封信是由一位律師爲他代筆的。

信中說，斯諾登是美國國家安全局的前僱員，他在受到審判之前不應被拘捕或關押，也不應受美國言論禁止令的限制，對他的審判應該在他選擇的地點進行。

愛德華·斯諾登是美國公民，在5月份從美國逃往香港，幾周之後，英國《衛報》和美國《華盛頓郵報》刊登了他披露的美國政府監視互聯網和電話通訊的詳細細節。

他自從上週日抵達莫斯科後就消失了蹤影，但俄羅斯官員說，他目前在莫斯科謝列梅捷沃國際機場的中間集結區。他已經向厄瓜多爾申請政治避難。

記者暫時尚未聯繫到美國司法部的代表對這封信發表評論。

朗尼·斯諾登說，他擔心他的兒子正受到別人的控制，包括反對美國政府的祕密組織維基解密，他是在週五接受美國全國廣播公司（NBC)的電視採訪時說這番話的。

“我很擔心那些圍在他身邊的人，”他對NBC說，維基解密——如果你看看過去的歷史——他們關注的不一定是美國的憲法。它只想儘可能多地泄露祕密。只這一點就讓我很擔心。”

根據NBC的報道， 斯諾登的父親自稱從4月起就跟兒子失去了聯繫。

“我愛他。我希望有機會跟他溝通。我不想因爲這讓他陷入危險，” 他在採訪中說。

老斯諾登說，他不認爲他的兒子犯了叛國罪，儘管他承認愛德華·斯諾登泄露聯邦監控項目的細節確實違反了美國的法律。

“他背叛了他的政府，但我不相信他背叛了美國人民，”老斯諾登說。