Did you miss the part where Snowden claims Russia is the first to stand against human rights violations? Reread the quote. If you think Snowden is a principled champion of civil rights, how do you square that with the fact that he is on the record praising Russia's civil rights record?
In context, that statement sounds like he's talking about Russia's actions with regard to his case. I wouldn't read the quote as "Russia's really nice to gay people!". I'd read it as "Russia granted me asylum rather than throwing me to a possible execution/life imprisonment for whistleblowing."
Comments
Did you miss the part where Snowden claims Russia is the first to stand against human rights violations? Reread the quote. If you think Snowden is a principled champion of civil rights, how do you square that with the fact that he is on the record praising Russia's civil rights record?
In context, that statement sounds like he's talking about Russia's actions with regard to his case. I wouldn't read the quote as "Russia's really nice to gay people!". I'd read it as "Russia granted me asylum rather than throwing me to a possible execution/life imprisonment for whistleblowing."