Snowden's father tells son to stay in Russia

MOSCOW - Lon Snowden, father of fugitive former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, tells his son Wednesday on Russian television to stay in Russia because he won't get a fair trial in the United States.

"If I was him, I would stay in Russia," Lon said in Washington in an interview broadcast on the state-owned Rossia 24 News Channel. He also thanked President Vladimir Putin and his government for the "courage" they have shown in keeping his son safe.

The father, in another interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, said he did not believe his son would get a fair trial in the United States.

The elder Snowden said he has been following closely the media and the members of the Congress these days.

"So many talking heads...who have absolutely no clue to whom Edward Snowden is," he said. "I watched that that and I realized that it's absolutely propaganda. How can my son possibly get a fair trial?"

Edward Snowden, charged with espionage in the United States after he disclosed a classified intelligence surveillance project code-name PRISM, has been stranded at Moscow's international airport since he arrived on June 23.