Snowden sees 'no chance' for US fair trial Washington: Fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden says he has no plans to return to the United States, because he would have "no chance" for a fair trial. "The hundred-year-old law under which I've been charged . . . forbids a public interest defence," he said in a question-and-answer session on the Free Snowden website. "This is especially frustrating, because it means there's no chance to have a fair trial, and no way I can come home and make my case to a jury," he said. The comments came during the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor's first such public forum since June. On Thursday, US Attorney-General Eric Holder told MSNBC television that US authorities "would engage in conversation" about a resolution of the case if Mr Snowden accepted responsibility for leaking government secrets. But he said granting clemency "would be going too far." Mr Snowden was asked about the conditions under which he would return to the United States, where he faces espionage charges for leaking numerous documents about NSA surveillance programs. "Returning to the US, I think, is the best resolution for the government, the public, and myself, but it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistleblower protection laws, which, through a failure in law, did not cover national security contractors like myself," he said. Maybe when Congress comes together to end the programs . . . they'll reform the Whistleblower Protection Act, and we'll see a mechanism for all Americans, no matter who they work for, to get a fair trial. His comments came hours after a US government privacy watchdog panel said the NSA's indiscriminate collection of bulk phone records is illegal and has had minimal value in fighting terrorism. The 238-page report represents the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational. The Obama administration has portrayed the bulk collection program as useful and lawful while at the same time acknowledging concerns about privacy and potential abuse. But in its report, the board lays out what may be the most detailed critique of the government's once-secret legal theory behind the program: that a law known as Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the FBI to obtain business records deemed "relevant" to an investigation, can be legitimately interpreted as authorising the NSA to collect all calling records in the country. The program "lacks a viable legal foundation under Section 215, implicates constitutional concerns under the First and Fourth Amendments, raises serious threats to privacy and civil liberties as a policy matter, and has shown only limited value," the report said. As a result, the board recommends that the government end the program. While a majority of the five-member board embraced that conclusion, two members - Rachel Brand and Elisebeth Collins Cook, both of whom were Justice Department lawyers in the George W. Bush administration - dissented from the view that the program was illegal. But the panel was united in 10 other recommendations, including deleting raw phone records after three years instead of five and tightening access to search results. AFP, New York Times