TODAY: Putin courts controversy in Finland, admits Snowden is at Moscow airport; PACE report on Magnitsky death released; all Bolotnaya Square defendants deny charges; a third of Russians support Khodorkovsky parole; Rosneft, Vkontakte, agriculture.

President Vladimir Putin was in Finland yesterday, where he spoke on three controversial issues.  He denied that gay rights were violated in Russia by a recent law banning the promotion of ‘homosexual propaganda’; he defended the law that orders foreign-funded NGOs to register as ‘foreign agents’, saying that it was aimed at protecting domestic policies; and he admitted that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is in the transit area of Sheretmetyevo Airport in Moscow.  Human Rights Watch reviews the NGO law, which has thus far affected 62 organisations.  Regarding Snowden, Putin’s position is that he will not be extradited because Russia does not have an ‘international agreement on extradition’ with the U.S., effectively making Snowden a free man. Putin also said that U.S. accusations against Russia were ‘drivel‘, and referred to Snowden as a ‘human rights activist’, indicating double standards in any officials U.S. criticism of Russia’s practices.  Both Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that the fact that Snowden is in a transit zone means that he cannot be seized (explaining Lavrov’s statement that he ‘did not cross the Russian border’), but the Washington Post says that, under Russian visa rules, Snowden’s being there for more than 24 hours means he would have had to be given a visa.  A WikiLeaks source speculated that Snowden may be stuck in Russia, with other sources suggesting that he may be talking to Russian secret services.  This piece says that Snowden’s worth to Russia is not in intelligence, but as a cold war pawn who can help Putin ‘stick it to the West’.