“The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden,” Patino, who is on an official visit to Vietnam, said on Twitter.
Patino did not give additional details.
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson confirmed that Snowden had requested asylum in Ecuador. The anti-secrecy website had earlier said it helped Snowden find “political asylum in a democratic country”.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has said Assange is right to fear he might be sent from Sweden, where he is accused of sexual assault, to the United States to face charges over WikiLeaks’ publication in 2010 of secret U.S. cables.
Seal of the United States Department of Justice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who revealed the existence of a wide-ranging US online surveillance program, has requested asylum from Ecuador, the government’s foreign minister has announced.
Snowden arrived in Moscow earlier today after leaving Hong Kong, where he had sought refuge from US charges of espionage and theft, following White House confirmation that the US had begun the extradition process with the city’s semi-autonomous government.
Aboard Aeroflot flight SU213, Snowden landed in the Russian capital just after 5pm local time with a companion from online activist group Wikileaks, who helped the former intelligence officer leave China.
It is believed that Snowden will tomorrow travel from Moscow to a final destination that is yet to be disclosed. However, according to Ecuadorian foreign minister Ricardo Patiño Aroca, he has now filed a formal bid for protection from the Latin American country.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has claimed his organisation helped Snowden leave Hong Kong in search of “political asylum in a democratic country,” but did not specify his target nation.
Assange, who has himself been avoiding extradition in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for over a year, told The Sydney Morning Herald: “He will be met by diplomats from the country that will be his ultimate destination. Diplomats from that country will accompany him on a further flight to his destination.”
He added: “Owing to WikiLeaks‘ own circumstances, we have developed significant expertise in international asylum and extradition law, associated diplomacy and the practicalities in these matters. I have great personal sympathy for Ed Snowden’s position.”
A statement from the Hong Kong government confirmed that Snowden left the Chinese city to a third country this morning, adding: “The United States previously requested Hong Kong to issue a provisional arrest warrant for Mr Snowden.
“Because the US request failed to fully comply with the requirements under Hong Kong law, the US Department of Justice was asked to provide further information. The failure to provide sufficient information in this case meant there was no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden’s departure.”
In response, the US Department of Justice said they would continue to seek extradition elsewhere. “We have been informed by the Hong Kong authorities Mr Snowden has departed for a third country,” a spokeswoman said. “We will continue to discuss this mater with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr Snowden may be attempting to travel.”
Speculation surrounding Snowden’s plans has continued throughout the day with possible final destinations being named in reports as Venezuela, Iceland, Cuba and Ecuador.
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a source at the Aeroflot airline as saying there is a ticket in Snowden’s name for an onward flight to Cuba that leaves tomorrow and a subsequent booking on a local flight to Caracas, Venezuela.
The source added that Snowden did not have a Russian visa and would therefore wait for his connecting flight in the airport’s transit area. “In this case, he will not need to pass border control. Thus, the law enforcement agencies of our country will not be able to stop him,” the source reportedly said.
However, an embassy vehicle carrying the Ecuadorian ambassador to Russia was photographed arriving at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport shortly after Snowden landed.
Speaking with The Guardian, Ambassador Patricio Chavez said he had not spoken with Snowden, did not know where he was and would not confirm whether he had been seen by Ecuadorian officials. Asked why he was there, Chavez reportedly said: “We have an interest in knowing what is happening to him.”
A spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin said they were unaware of Snowden’s location or plans, but US politicians have hit out at the former Cold War enemy for not already intervening on their behalf.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer told CNN: “Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways, and Putin always seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the United States, whether it is Syria, Iran and now, of course, with Snowden. I think it’ll have serious consequences for the United States-Russia relationship.”
The news comes amid new allegations by Snowden that the NSA ‘prism’ program was used to hack Chinese mobile phone data, which could have impacted on China’s compliance with extradition proceedings.
An editorial in China’s official state news agency, which is believed to represent the government’s feelings, labelled the US a “villain” and demanded an explanation of its activities.
The Xinhua statement said: “These, along with previous allegations, are clearly troubling signs. They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber-attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age.”
HQ of Hong Kong Government Flying Service (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
An Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong carrying Edward Snowden, the former contractor who leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs, landed at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Russia on Sunday. Snowden left Hong Kong “on his own accord for a third country,” the government in Hong Kong said Sunday afternoon.
Snowden’s final destination was unclear. Russian news agency Interfax and Radio Ekho Moskvy reported that Snowden was booked on a flight to Cuba and then from Havana to Caracas, Venezuela. The next Aeroflot flight to Havana leaves Monday afternoon. Ecuador and Iceland have also been mentioned as possibilities.
A black BMW with diplomatic license plates assigned to the Ecuadorian Embassy was seen parked at Sheremetyevo, but it was unclear who might have been in the car.
Snowden is being aided in his travel by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that published hundreds of thousands of classified documents. The group posted on Twitter about 5 a.m. EDT that Snowden was “currently over Russian airspace accompanied by WikiLeaks legal advisors.” The organization later said Snowden was accompanied on his flight to Moscow by Sarah Harrison, who the organization said is a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher working with the WikiLeaks legal defense team.
Snowden has drawn comparisons to Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private who provided the secret files to WikiLeaks.
“The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr. Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person,” said Baltasar Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for Julian Assange, the group’s founder who has spent the past year holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. “What is being done to Mr. Snowden and to Mr. Julian Assange — for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest — is an assault against the people.”
Snowden was being examined at the airport by a doctor from the Ecuadorian Embassy, according to RT, a television network financed by the Russian government.
The Hong Kong government said that documents from the U.S. government requesting a warrant for his arrest “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.” And so it has asked the United States to provide “additional information.”
“As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong,” the statement said.
A a senior Justice Department official disputed that claim. “The request met the requirements of the agreement,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They came back to us late Friday with additional questions and we were in the process of responding. Obviously this raises concerns for us and we will continue to discuss this with the authorities there.”
The Hong Kong government said it had informed the U.S. government that Snowden had left.
It has also formally written to the U.S. government asking for “clarification” on reports that computer systems in Hong Kong had been hacked by U.S. agencies.
Jamaica Cop Held in Drugs Coup, this is not a surprise but I think it’s a bit late in acting.
I wonder if he has stepped on someones elses corn why he got caught.
The British Police Force was once rated the best in the World,but they are now they are like a Security Guard minus the Force.
Did you see that Police chiefs appealing for member of the public to fingerprint suspects,our force is gorne to the dogs.
How often do we look back throughtout the universe, say from country to country at their down to earth leaders and think, why can’t our leader be or perform like to name but a few upstanding politician’s.
Mandela did great things in his time, even though he’s been let down by his counterpath. Lula the Brazilian president who is now stepping down. He gain the trustworthyness of his country by mingleing and listening to the poorest , knowing what and how to handle a situation fron within the poorest end of his country and not the rich as our government often seem to tread.
I do wished that these morans would take the tip and use a leaf from those guys book.
Cbcburke9's Blog 