US: No death penalty for Snowden

US Justice Department says the United States will not seek the death penalty for former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden who is wanted on espionage charges.Letter is reaction to concerns expressed by Snowden in his application for asylum that he may be sentenced to death if he returns to the US.

Department officials announced on Friday that US Attorney General Eric Holder wrote a letter to his Russian counterpart Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov. This  correspondence is seen as an attempt to prevent Russia from treating Snowden as a refugee and granting him asylum.

Holder said in the letter sent on Tuesday that Snowden has been charged with leaking classified information.

But Holder also mentioned that Snowden would not be tortured or face the death penalty should he return to the United States.
Media agencies