Annoyed by harsh White House rhetoric about Russia’s refusal to handover whistleblower Edward Snowden, Russian Interior Ministry officials lashed the US for its “hypocritical” policy when Russia is the one doing the asking.
According to the officials, the US routinely disregards extradition requests from Russian law enforcement, denying the extradition of accused murderers and on many occasions never even bothering to respond to the requests.
All of that is entirely legal, of course, as the US and Russia don’t have an extradition agreement. Still, it makes the feigned outrage of US officials over Russia’s refusal to turn over Snowden all the more perplexing.
Indeed, Snowden’s request falls into the category of asylum seekers, while many of the people Russia sought were never seeking asylum to begin with. When the US would respond, they did so exactly as Russia does with Snowden, simply noting the lack of an extradition treaty.
