Former National Security Agency secrets-leaker Edward Snowden said he would return to the U.S. if he could get a fair and open trial.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has lived in Russia for six years. His comments came in an interview with NPR posted Thursday.
He is facing charges of violating the Espionage Act. Snowden is accused of providing journalists with classified documents about a government surveillance program.
He said he would return to the U.S., but only if he could reveal to a jury why he leaked the information, NPR reported.
"You can't have a fair trial about the disclosure of information unless the jury can evaluate whether it was right or wrong to reveal this information,” he said. "No one becomes a whistleblower because they want to. No one becomes a whistleblower because it has a happy ending.”
The interview was conducted by phone with Snowden, who was in Moscow.
He said: "It was not my choice to be here, and this is what people forget. ... It was not my choice to live in Russia."
Snowden claimed he sought asylum in more than two dozen countries and the U.S government canceled his passport.