Snowden to appear, via video, at European parliament hearings

Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden will make a pre-recorded video statement in two weeks, a German European Parliament member said Friday. Jan Phillip Albrecht said Snowden, who currently resides in Russia, will provide answers to pre-submitted questions in a video appearance to be presented at the European Parliament's civil liberties committee in Brussels on Dec. 18, noting the procedure will be followed to avoid revealing Snowden's exact location. Snowden, 30, was granted temporary asylum in Russia. The United States charged Snowden with espionage after he leaked top-secret government documents to a British reporter for The Guardian in May. European Parliament members are in touch with Snowden through his lawyer, the online newspaper EUobserver said. Albrecht said Snowden has been following the parliament's hearings on the leaking of the documents because "it is one of the only places where a real debate is taking place, at the moment."