A Federation Council member plans to help collect money via the Internet for cash-strapped U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden, a news report said Wednesday.
Several people including bloggers and representatives of the Internet community have offered to create a special site for collecting donations, said Ruslan Gattarov, the head of the Federation Council's Committee on Information Policy.
"I have contacted [Snowden's] representatives and they have approved the idea, having noted that Snowden is running out of money," Gattarov told Interfax.
Gattarov said that he would try to coordinate the process "as a person who is somewhat sympathetic to Snowden."
Gattarov said that there are many people in Russia and abroad willing to help the former National Security Agency contractor and that his mission is to make sure that Snowden receives their help.
"Snowden has become a global figure and many people feel sympathy for him and will certainly want to help him," Gattarov said.
On Aug. 1 Russian authorities granted Snowden temporary political asylum for one year and the intelligence leaker now plans to find a job in the country. He became famous for leaking classified information about U.S. government intelligence programs.
Gattarov also invited Snowden to work with a group set up by the Federation Council to investigate the unauthorized use of Russian Internet users' personal information by U.S. secret services agencies, RIA Novosti reported.
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