He fled because there is no chance of a fair trial. (You can Google the specifics, but he wouldn't have been able to present his case at trial -- not that he should be facing a trial in the first place, since he is a whistleblower, not a spy.)

He turned over the data to responsible journalists to make sure it was vetted properly and the public could be safely informed without jeopardizing national security.

He's a patriot and a hero. The fact that he is still living in Russia and being treated like a criminal by the U.S. government, instead of receiving a medal in the USA, is a strong indictment of our government and clear evidence of our ongoing loss of freedom.

What you described is law. He clearly broke the law. It's according to the law that "it is not for law enforcement or junior diplomats to decide these matters".

But what matters to most of us is justice. That is: was what he did the right (as opposed to the legal) thing to do?

If he was, then we can very much find "find fault in US authorities trying to get him back" -- in fact we can find fault in all their previous behavior, that he helped expose.

The same way I'd find fault with any authorities doing something bad, whether it's their "job" or not. In the same way I wouldn't excuse some 1850 judge ordering the hanging of a slave who tried to break free, or the hangman who did it, even if they followed the law.

If you want to say this is "junior diplomats" doing their job, then what's the point of having an embassy with no senior diplomats in the loop?

Snowden had no other choice. He's a hero.