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Russian MP, human rights lawyer come to Moscow airport to meet with Snowden

Snowden’s meeting with public representatives and lawyers will be held behind closed doors
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 12 (Itar-Tass) - Deputy of Russia’s State Duma, Dr. Vyacheslav Nikonov, and the popular human rights lawyer Genri Reznik, who chairs the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers, were among the first representatives of Russian public quarters to come to Sheremetyevo airpot where the former CIA technical analyst Edward Snowden is expected to meet with rights activists at around 17:00 hours Moscow Standard Time /GMT plus 4 hrs/.

The airport’s press secretary Anna Zakharenkova told Itar-Tass that Snowden’s meeting with public representatives and lawyers will be held behind closed doors.

About 200 reporters could be seen near Terminal F soon after 14:00 hours - three hours before the meeting - trying to get at least some bits of information.

“We get together at 16:30 and then we wait for the people from human rights organizations and then we proceed to Terminal F,” Zakharenkova told reporters.

“The meeting will be held closed doors in that terminal,” she went on. “After its completion the participants will get out to the media and will speak about its results. They’ll offer their own comments if they find it necessary.”

Along with this, Zakharenkova said that photographing and video recording will be restricted.

Genri Reznik repeated his earlier supposition that Snowden will most likely make a request for political asylum.

He indicated that he had not seen the man before and had not had any contacts with him.

Reznik said he had received an invitation to the meeting as a human rights activist, not as a lawyer. He warned the reporters that it was too early to surmise that he might be representing Snowden’s interests as a lawyer some day.

Human rights activists who came to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for a meeting with the former CIA technical analyst Edward Snowden were taken to the transit zone of Terminal F.

From there, they will be delivered to some other point by bus. Sources said no details of the route are known.

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