Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has criticized the integrity of Russia’s presidential election just before exit polls showed President Vladimir Putin had won a fourth term in office in a landslide.
“The ballot stuffing seen today in Moscow and elsewhere in the Russian election is an effort to steal the influence of 140+ million people,” Edward Snowden said in a tweet. “Demand justice; demand laws and courts that matter. Take your future back.”
Snowden, who has been living in Moscow since 2013, then linked to a clip of one of the numerous rounds of alleged ballot-stuffing in Sunday’s vote.
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The ballot stuffing seen today in Moscow and elsewhere in the Russian election is an effort to steal the influence of 140+ million people. Demand justice; demand laws and courts that matter. Take your future back. https://t.co/Jh6W8gq7Zx
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 18, 2018
Edward Snowden was granted political asylum by Russia in 2013 after he leaked secret information from the National Security Agency’s illegal surveillance programs, and has been living in Moscow ever since.
Critics have slammed the Russian election as a sham, noting the Kremlin had banned opposition activist and leading Putin opponent Alexei Navalny from the ballot, and imposed restrictions on some election monitors.
Independent election observers and activists have alleged numerous incidents of ballot stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday’s vote.
The non-governmental election monitoring group Golo has flagged at least 2,000 incidents, including observers being prevented from monitoring voting locations.
Vladimir Putin is now set to remain in power until at least 2024. He is already Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
This isn’t the first time Snowden, who moved to Russia in 2013 following his explosive leak of NSA-related material, has been critical of the Kremlin. It is, however, by far his most pointed criticism — and one that caused concern from followers for his safety.
In response to questions about the logic of criticizing Russian authorities so publicly, Edward Snowden responded by stating that “each of us are given a limited number of days to make a difference. Life is a choice to live for something, or to die for nothing.”
My friends tell me it is dangerous to criticize the Russian government the same as I criticize my own. But each of us are given a limited number of days to make a difference. Life is a choice to live for something, or to die for nothing.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 18, 2018
