Lawyer says Snowden uses disguise in public

MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

People use masks with pictures of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden masks during the testimonial of Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who first published the documents leaked by Snowden, before a Brazilian Congressional committee on NSA's surveillance programs, in Brasilia August 6, 2013. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is living under guard at a secret address in Russia and sometimes emerges in disguise, although he remains in such danger that even a family visit could jeopardize his security, his lawyer said.

Snowden has avoided all contact with media since arriving in Russia on a flight from Hong Kong in June and his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has become his unofficial spokesman. “I am his only link with the outside world at the moment. Even his contacts with his parents are carried out through me,” Kucherena said in an interview published in Itogi weekly magazine. Kucherena gave few details of how Snowden occupies his time, but said he is able to go out in disguise.

“He would walk past you and you wouldn’t recognize him,” he told Itogi. “It’s a question of clothes and small alterations to his appearance... He really does walk freely around on the streets.” Snowden has also made quick progress in learning Russian, his lawyer said.

Snowden spent more than a month in transit in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport before slipping out and has not made any public appearance.

The 30-year-old former CIA security analyst is wanted by the United States after revealing details of massive surveillance by the National Security Agency to the media.