Snowden seeks asylum in India, 19 other countries

Vishwarupa

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AP Supporters hold a picture of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and a fugitive whistle-blower, outside the U.S. Consulate General in Hong

American whistle-blower Edward Snowden, currently sheltered in the transit zone of Moscow airport, has sought asylum in 20 countries, including India.

These asylum requests have been filed by Sarah Harrison, legal advisor of Wikileaks in the matter of Snowden, the whistle-blower website said on Tuesday, adding that the first two requests were made to Ecuador, followed by Iceland.

"On 30th June 2013 WikiLeaks' legal advisor in the Edward Snowden matter, Sarah Harrison, submitted by hand a number of requests for asylum and asylum assistance on behalf of Edward J Snowden," Wikileaks said in a statement.

"The requests were delivered to an official at the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow late in the evening," it said, adding the documents outline the risks of persecution Snowden faces in the US and have started to be delivered by the Russian consulate to the relevant embassies in Moscow.

The requests were made to a number of countries including Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italian, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Swiss Confederation and Venezuela.

The Obama Administration has warned countries not to give asylum to Mr. Snowden arguing that he is wanted in the US on charges of espionage and leaking classified information.

The U.S. on Monday said Mr. Snowden, whose passport has been revoked, would be given a fair trial and enjoys all the rights of an American citizen.

"We're prepared to issue one-entry travel documents. He's still a US citizen. He still enjoys the rights of his US citizenship, which include the right to a free and fair trial for the crimes he's been accused of," State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell told reporters.

"He (Snowden) enjoys the rights and responsibilities of any US citizen, including the right to a free and fair trial under our Constitution," he said, adding that "He has a country to return to, which is the United States of America."

Mr. Snowden worked for the NSA before he fled to Hong Kong last month with laptops full of confidential information. He is believed to be currently holed up in the Moscow airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

He is wanted in the U.S. on the charges of espionage and leaking classified documents. Documents leaked by him last month exposed a systematic and large-scale surveillance of phone and internet communications by the NSA around the world.

According to his leaks, the Indian Embassy in the U.S. is among the list of 38 diplomatic missions which were being spied upon by American intelligence agencies.

Snowden seeks asylum in India, 19 other countries - The Hindu
 

Razor

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Requests were made following the initial bids submitted to Ecuador and Iceland, with the list now including countries throughout Europe, Latin and Central America, and several others. The complete list is below:

"The requests were made to a number of countries including the Republic of Austria, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Finland, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of India, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Nicaragua, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the Russian Federation, the Kingdom of Spain, the Swiss Confederation and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," the statement reads.
'Unbowed' Snowden makes Moscow statement, releases list of countries contacted for asylum — RT News
 

Abhijeet Dey

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Why didn't he apply for political asylum in Islamic Republic of Iran & Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Both these countries have anti-US sentiments. :confused:
 

W.G.Ewald

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Why didn't he apply for political asylum in Islamic Republic of Iran & Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Both these countries have anti-US sentiments. :confused:
Or he can stay in transit area of Moscow airport; they'll make a movie about him and Tom Hanks can play the role :-D
 

Payeng

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now even offering political asylum becomes a tough job :facepalm::truestory:
 

Razor

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Ecuador 'helped Snowden by mistake,' asylum in doubt

Edward Snowden will not necessarily be granted asylum in Ecuador, and any travel aid given to him was purely accidental, the Ecuadorian President has said. He also rebuked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for speaking on the part of Ecuador.

Correa told The Guardian that Quito will not be involved in financing or organizing Snowden's travel from Moscow, specifying that the fugitive leaker would have to reach Ecuadorian soil before the government considers protecting him from American law enforcement.

"Are we responsible for getting him to Ecuador? It's not logical," Correa said Monday. "The country that has to give him a safe conduct document is Russia."

The president's comments came just hours after a letter from Snowden to Ecuadorian lawmakers was made public. In it, Snowden thanked them for considering his asylum request and providing a temporary travel pass for his trip from Hong Kong to Moscow on June 23. Snowden is without a passport, and in a Monday statement issued via WikiLeaks he referred to himself as "stateless."

"I must express my deep respect for your principles and sincere thanks for your government's action in considering my request for political asylum," Snowden wrote in Spanish, according to London's Press Association.

"There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world."

The kind words seemed to leave Correa unmoved, though, as he has since admitted that issuing Snowden the travel pass was misguided and, in any case, was not approved by his office.

"It was a mistake on our part," he said. "Mr. Snowden's situation is very complicated, but in this moment he is in Russian territory and these are decisions for the Russians authorities."
Ecuador 'helped Snowden by mistake,' asylum in doubt — RT News

Looks like the Americans had a little talk with Mr. Correa. :lol:
 

W.G.Ewald

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Edward Snowden Risks Sharing Fate of Kim Philby, Guy Burgess & More - The Daily Beast
It is unlikely that anyone has ever defected or sought asylum on foreign soil for any reason other than "Where I'm going can't be worse than where I've been." But try telling that to Edward Snowden, the on-the-lam National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information revealing U.S. surveillance programs and by now is probably wondering if he's ever getting out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he's stuck until the Russians and Americans figure out what to do with him. Snowden would cheerfully accept asylum in Russia, or Ecuador, or 15 other countries he's selected, because none of those countries, unlike the United States, wants to throw him in jail. The problem with that idea, as a lot of former defectors—and individuals simply seeking asylum—could tell him, is that plain old jail can start looking pretty good after a while.

Kim Philby might have told him so, if Philby ever told anyone the truth about anything. One of the Cambridge Five, a communist spy ring of upper-crust Englishmen that included Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, and a possible fifth person never identified, Philby spied for the Russians throughout World War II and for years thereafter. It was Philby, it turned out, who alerted Maclean and Burgess that they should escape to the Soviet Union in 1951. More dreadful, it was Philby who ran covert operations against the Russians out of MI6. In other words, England's point man in the Cold War was a mole. (For the whole superbly told story of how Philby's treachery was at last revealed, consult My Paper Chase, by Sir Harold Evans, who as editor of the Sunday Times of London presided over the investigation that in 1967 brought Philby's role at MI6 to light.)

By the time the public learned of the details that prompted Philby's defection to the Soviet Union, he'd been ensconced in Moscow for almost five years, where he lived until his death in 1988. He claimed to be unrepentant, saying he missed only some friends, Colman's mustard, and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. In fact, he was kept under virtual house arrest, as the Russians were afraid he might try to return to England. He also drank heavily and attempted suicide at least once. He had gone to Moscow with the assumption that he would be named a colonel in the KGB, a promise that, if indeed made, was never kept.

At least Philby wanted to defect. Evidence suggests that Guy Burgess believed he was only helping Donald Maclean escape when they disappeared in 1951, but the KGB had no intention of ever letting Burgess fall back into English hands. Upon surfacing in the Soviet Union in 1956, he spent the rest of his short life—he died in 1963 at 52—descending ever deeper into alcoholism.
 

Razor

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Bolivian presidential plane forced to land in Austria over suspicions Snowden on board

After departing from Russia the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to landing in Austria Wednesday morning over suspicions that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board, a claim Bolivian authorities denied.

Snowden had requested asylum from Bolivia, which has yet to answer; he also petitioned Austria but was rejected. Reports indicated the plane was hindered in navigating Western Europe as France and Portugal would not allow the La Paz-bound plane to enter their airspace.

David Choquehuanca, the Bolivian Foregin Minister, refuted the idea Snowden was on the plane, saying "we don't know who invited this lie, but we want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales."
Bolivian presidential plane forced to land in Austria over suspicions Snowden on board — RT News

:shocked: :hmm:
Snowden doesn't seem to have a bright future.
 

Known_Unknown

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India's cowardly display of servility - The Hindu

In the early 1950s, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru told his Foreign Secretary, Subimal Dutt that his government was "fully aware of the clandestine activities of a number of Foreign Missions in India," with particular focus on the "Americans [who] indulged in such activities." Spying could not be countenanced by Nehru, nor could the soft bribery of parties and friendship. "These Americans in India are lavish with their money and with entertainment," he wrote in 1954. "They invite large numbers of our officers and other citizens, entertain them and, more especially, offer them alcoholic drinks in large quantities. Many of our people who go there talk freely and even loosely." Nehru and his circle attempted to foster a healthy suspicion of the motives of both superpowers regarding India. His was not a sentiment that one could say is now anachronistic — faded away with the end of the Cold War. Nehru wanted to promote the dignity of the new India. That ethos should remain alive and well.

India's response to the Snowden affair is both shoddy and undignified. At the very least, the External Affairs Minister should have taken the same kind of tack as adopted by the Europeans, arguably closer allies to the U.S. than India. India is also a signatory of the 1961 Vienna Convention. To be so cavalier about the implications of espionage shows that India, like the U.S., has become cynical about international law. This is a walk-down from the high ground that India once occupied.
The once high and mighty Congress of Nehru.....look at how pathetic it has now become. :sucide:
 

W.G.Ewald

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freedom and democracy in europe.
Just national sovereignty over airspace, in spite of rhetoric.

The grounding of Morales' plane triggered a torrent of enraged rhetoric from Latin American leaders amid accusations the craft had been "kidnapped by imperialism."

Morales told press at the airport that he was not a "criminal" and reminded EU countries that "we are no longer in the colonial period." Moreover, he called on the countries that had closed their airspace to him to account for themselves.
'Imperial Skyjacking': Bolivian presidential plane grounded in Austria over Snowden stowaway suspicions — RT News
 

Compersion

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It's official. He's looking to defect. Snowden to seek temporary asylum in Russia - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Temporary my ass... If he sets foot in Latin America, it's merely a matter of paying someone a few-grand to load him into a trunk for us.
The question is what was the reason he left Hong Kong and fled to Russia airport. Was he becoming to hot for the Hong Kong authorities and the pcr leadership. People forget the Hong Kong government just gave the middle finger to the USA, what was the escape for prc government the answer was for them to send him to Russia. The Russians are waking up that they have been put in this position because of the prc government. This also plays intos with the recent naval exercise of the prc "the largest ever" to shw how the prc has russian support. this makes one read between the lines that the Russians are being used by PRC. But this time the Russians have picked up on this. The russians must be asking whats this and its a bit disrespectful. Too bad it would have been good to have read about snowden in Hong Kong. That's why I end by saying the prc government either got lucky if not they are smart. They picked up the disadvantage of having snowden in Hong Kong. But the other question is how can they now throw egg in the Americans face by saying they ought to look at themselves first before pointing fingers. Whose side is snowden on here hmm. The prc has a lot of guts to pick a fight with the Americans over this.
 

ladder

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Snowden gets asylum in Russia; 'have won the battle, now the war', WikiLeaks says

MOSCOW: National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden left transit zone of a Moscow airport and entered Russia after authorities granted him temporary asylum, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Anatoly Kucherena said that Snowden's whereabouts will be kept secret for security reasons. The former NSA systems analyst was stuck at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

The US has demanded that Russia send Snowden home to face prosecution for espionage, but President Vladimir Putin dismissed the request.

Putin had said that Snowden could receive asylum in Russia on condition he stops leaking US secrets. Kucherena has said Snowden accepted the condition.

Guardian newspaper on Wednesday published a new report on US intelligence-gathering based on information from Snowden, but Kucherena said the material was provided before Snowden promised to stop leaking.

Snowden, who revealed details of a US intelligence program to monitor Internet activity, has received offers of asylum from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia and said he would like to visit those countries. However, the logistics of reaching any of those countries are complicated because his US passport has been revoked.

Snowden's father said in remarks broadcast on Wednesday on Russian television that he would like to visit his son. Kucherena said he is arranging the trip.

The secret-spilling grop WikiLeaks said its legal adviser Sarah Harrison is now with Snowden. The group also praised Russia for providing him shelter.

"We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden," WikiLeaks said on Twitter. "We have won the battle — now the war."

The Snowden case has further strained US-Russian ties already tense amid differences over Syria, US criticism of Russia's human rights record and other issues.

Putin's foreign affairs aide, Yuri Ushakov, sought on Thursday to downplay the impact this will have on the US-Russia relations.

"This issue isn't significant enough to have an impact on political relations," he said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies.

He said that the Kremlin hasn't heard any signal from Washington that Obama could cancel his visit to Moscow ahead of next month's G-20 summit in St Petersburg.
Snowden gets asylum in Russia; 'have won the battle, now the war', WikiLeaks says - The Times of India
 

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