WikiLeaks: Snowden going to Ecuador to seek asylum

[red states rule]

Looks like the little coward is extending his world tour and heading for a country that openly cracks down on anyone who speaks out against their government

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs, flew to Russia on Sunday and planned to head to Ecuador to seek asylum, the South American country's foreign minister and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said.


Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government has received a request for asylum from Snowden. WikiLeaks, which is giving Snowden legal assistance, said his asylum request would be formally processed once he arrived in Ecuador, the same country that has already been sheltering the anti-secrecy group's founder Julian Assange in its London embassy.


Snowden arrived in Moscow on an Aeroflot flight shortly after 5 p.m. (1300gmt) Sunday after being allowed to leave Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding for several weeks after he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs.


Snowden was spending the night in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and was booked on an Aeroflot flight to Cuba on Monday, the Russian news agencies ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported, citing unnamed airline officials. Aeroflot has no direct flights from Moscow to Quito, Ecuador; travelers would have to make connections in Paris, Rome or Washington, which could be problematic for Snowden.


Kristinn Hrafnsson, the WikiLeaks spokesman, told Britain's Sky News that Snowden would be meeting with diplomats from Ecuador in Moscow. WikiLeaks said he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from the group.


The car of Ecuador's ambassador to Russia was parked outside the airport in the evening.


Assange, who has spent a year inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sex crime
allegations, told the Sydney Morning Herald that WikiLeaks is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.

A U.S. official in Washington said Snowden's passport was annulled before he left Hong Kong, which could complicate but not thwart his travel plans. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to discuss the matter, said that if a senior official in a country or airline ordered it, a country could overlook the withdrawn passport.


While Patino did not say if the asylum request would be accepted, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has shown repeated willingness to irk the U.S. government and he has emerged as one of the leaders of Latin America's leftist bloc, along with Fidel and Raul Castro of Cuba and Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez.


Both the United States and Britain protested his decision to grant asylum to Assange.


Critics have suggested that asylum for Assange might be aimed partly at blunting international criticism of Correa's own tough stance on critics and new restrictions imposed on the news media.

http://townhall.com/news/politics-el...hones-n1625248

[jimnyc]

Good riddance. Let him find a new country if he wants to hide from justice, which he said wasn't what he was trying to do. The government should next revoke his citizenship if he successfully 'hides'. He can then enjoy his new life without his girlfriend, his family, friends and everything he knows/knew.

[Voted4Reagan]

Snowden will be back in US Custody within 24 months....

Bet they are already working out the details

[red states rule]

Snowden will be back in US Custody within 24 months....

Bet they are already working out the details

and perhaps within 24 hours he will spill his guts to the Russians about all he knows about our security systems and procedures

[revelarts]

[revelarts]

Snowden in Russia. but the U.S. gov't says Snowden has no rights to speak.
And should not be allowed to speak becuase he is ACCUSED of a crime.
And told human rights orgs to send Snowden a message, you are a criminal.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GDFIVVmXE-g?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[jimnyc]

Snowden in Russia. but the U.S. gov't says Snowden has no rights to speak.
And should not be allowed to speak becuase he is ACCUSED of a crime.
And told human rights orgs to send Snowden a message, you are a criminal.

Just watched the first 5 minutes and I'm not watching the entire thing. Anyway, the official only said she was disappointed that Russia gave him a forum, she never said he had no right to speak. She never said that, nor that he couldn't speak because he was accused of a crime. She also was very clear that no official passed along any message. If this happens later in the video, please give the time, if not, every last thing you wrote was absolutely wrong and cleared up within the first 5 minutes of the video.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Snowden in Russia. but the U.S. gov't says Snowden has no rights to speak.
And should not be allowed to speak becuase he is ACCUSED of a crime.
And told human rights orgs to send Snowden a message, you are a criminal.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GDFIVVmXE-g?feature=player_detailpage" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

Reductio ad absurdum

[revelarts]

Just watched the first 5 minutes and I'm not watching the entire thing. Anyway, the official only said she was disappointed that Russia gave him a forum, she never said he had no right to speak. She never said that, nor that he couldn't speak because he was accused of a crime. She also was very clear that no official passed along any message. If this happens later in the video, please give the time, if not, every last thing you wrote was absolutely wrong and cleared up within the first 5 minutes of the video.

1st 5 minutes-

State Dept: We are disappointed the Russians facilitated the event...
Reporter: Why?
State Dept: Because they gave him a forum...
Reporter: Has he forfeited his right to free speech ..?
State Dept: ....Mr Snowden... is wanted on charges.
Reporter: I didn't no one forfeited his right to free speech because he's an accused criminal, I don't understand why your disappointed with the Russians?
Reporter: Accused criminals in the US have press conferences all the time.


more of the same though out.

Again Jim.
No she did not say "Snowden has no right to free speech"
But she did say She did not want the him to speak , his "propaganda".

When a gov't offical doesn't want you to talk and wants foreign gov'ts to keep you away from human rights groups and the press. I'd say that's in effect saying he has no right to speak.
You may think it's Protecting free speech.
we disagree.

[jimnyc]

1st 5 minutes-

State Dept: We are disappointed the Russians facilitated the event...
Reporter: Why?
State Dept: Because they gave him a forum...
Reporter: Has he forfeited his right to free speech ..?
State Dept: ....Mr Snowden... is wanted on charges.
Reporter: I didn't no one forfeited his right to free speech because he's an accused criminal, I don't understand why your disappointed with the Russians?
Reporter: Accused criminals in the US have press conferences all the time.


more of the same though out.

Again Jim.
No she did not say "Snowden has no right to free speech"
But she did say She did not want the him to speak , his "propaganda".

When a gov't offical doesn't want you to talk and wants foreign gov'ts to keep you away from human rights groups and the press. I'd say that's in effect saying he has no right to speak.
You may think it's Protecting free speech.
we disagree.

So again:

She never said he had no right to freedom of speech. She never said he had no right to speak because he was accused of a crime. No one ever passed along a message to him that he was a criminal. All 3 things you boldly stated in your post were never actually stated. Odd.