Whistleblower Edward Snowden Lands in Moscow

:greet:Whistleblower Edward Snowden Lands In Moscow

Ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden arrives in Russia having left Hong Kong and he could be heading to Venezuela.

2:26pm UK, Sunday 23 June 2013


Ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden (Pic: The Guardian)





The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details about snooping carried out by the US government, has landed in Moscow after flying from Hong Kong.
His departure from Hong Kong was confirmed by the territory's government earlier after a local newspaper said he had taken a flight to Russia.
The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, which says it is now representing Snowden, said he is using Moscow as a transit point to a third country.
His flight touched down at 5.05pm at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, according to Russia's International News
"Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed."
Spanish Judge Mr Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks and lawyer for Julian Assange added: "The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person.
Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii and his possible next destinations
"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".
WikiLeaks said he was being accompanied by Sarah Harrison, described by them as a UK citizen, journalist and legal researcher.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency says he may be heading to Cuba and then on to Venezuela, however, a delegation that appeared to have met him at Moscow airport was from Ecuador.
Itar-Tass said there is a flight ticket in his name from Moscow to Cuba and that he will then fly on to Caracas. It said that his flight to Havana from Moscow, would take place on Monday.
Interfax said it was possible he would spend the night at the Venezuelan embassy, meaning he would not need a visa as he would be travelling and staying entirely with diplomatic staff.
The South China Morning Post said Snowden's flight left Hong Kong around 11am local time (4am UK time) and he was due to arrive in Moscow around 5.15pm local time (2.15pm UK time).
A twitter picture of Snowden's plane in Moscow. Credit @Russian_Market
There has been speculation he may be eventually heading for Ecuador as he is being helped by WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange has also been granted asylum in the South American country.
Assange is currently in the Ecuador embassy in London. He is unable to leave without being arrested as he is wanted for questioning by Sweden over alleged sexual offences.
From the delegation which had arrived at the airport to meet him, it appears most likely he is heading to Ecuador.
Assange confirmed his organisation's involvement to Australian newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald.
He said: "Mr Snowden is ... accompanied by WikiLeaks legal advisers.
"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."
Assange declined to name the country in question in advance of a formal announcement, but described it as a "democratic country" and said that Mr Snowden would be able to travel "by a safe route" and that papers had been issued to ensure his safe passage.
A still picture of Sarah Harrison taken from a video put out by WikiLeaks
Snowden left Hong Kong after The White House asked the autonomous Chinese territory to extradite him. He had earlier been charged in the US with espionage.
The Hong Kong government has said that although the US had sought his extradition, the request did not fully comply with requirements. It said that as a result, he was free to leave.
Snowden was revealed earlier this month to have been the man who leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers information about monitoring by America's National Security Agency.
Snowden claimed the NSA has been keeping details of millions of phone calls by Americans and monitoring the use by foreigners of internet sites including Google, Facebook and Yahoo.
The South China Morning Post reported that Snowden's departure was a relief to the Hong Kong government, which had been making all legal preparation to deal with new developments regarding the case.
The US Department of Justice said it would be talking to the Hong Kong government.

ECUADOR HAS CONFIRMED THEY HAVE RECEIVED AN ASYLUM REQUEST FROM SNOWDEN.

Russian Minister Says Snowden Not On Its Soil

Russia's Foreign Minister says that whistleblower Edward Snowden has not crossed into his country as China's media praises him.

10:47am UK, Tuesday 25 June 2013





Video: Whistleblower Snowden Is 'Safe'
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Russia's foreign minster has said that whistleblower Edward Snowden has not crossed into Russian territory.
Sergei Lavrov rejected US demands to extradite the National Security Agency leaker, who has apparently stopped in Moscow while trying to evade justice in America.
Mr Lavrov said that accusing Russia of "violation of US laws and even some sort of conspiracy" with regard to Snowden is "absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable."
His comments came after China's top state newspaper - the voice of the communist party - praised whistleblower Edward Snowden for "tearing off Washington's sanctimonious mask".
The People's Daily, which reflects the official thinking of the Chinese government, criticised America for attacking Hong Kong's decision to allow the former CIA analyst to flee.
Snowden is thought to be in Russia, having flown there from Hong Kong on Sunday. He was not on a flight from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, on Monday, that he was expected to take.
A source told the Reuters newswire on Tuesday that he had arrived at Moscow Airport and was travelling with British WikiLeaks researcher Sarah Harrison.
Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii, with his next possible destinations
Snowden had left Hong Kong suddenly on Sunday, hours after the US had provided the territory with a request for extradition.
Snowden was widely expected to fly from Moscow to Cuba and then on to Ecuador, possibly via Venezuela, but Ecuador's foreign minister said on Tuesday he did not know where Snowden was.
It is thought he is staying airside in Moscow's airport. As he has not passed through passport control, he is considered as not having entered Russia.
Reports on Monday said he was staying in a 'pod'-style hotel room in the airport's VIP area.
On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Hong Kong had made a "deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China relationship".
US Secretary of State John Kerry has dubbed Snowden a traitor, and warned both Russia and China that their relations with the US might be damaged by their refusal to extradite him.
China's top state newspaper rejected accusations that Beijing had facilitated his departure from Hong Kong.
The empty seat Snowden was expected to be in on a flight to Cuba
The strongly worded front-page commentary in the overseas edition of The People's Daily said China could not accept "this kind of dissatisfaction and opposition".
"In a sense, the United States has gone from a 'model of human rights' to 'an eavesdropper on personal privacy', the 'manipulator' of the centralised power over the international internet, and the mad 'invader' of other countries' networks," the paper said.
"The world will remember Edward Snowden. It was his fearlessness that tore off Washington's sanctimonious mask."
President Barack Obama said the United States is following legal channels to bring Snowden back to the US.
Snowden is being assisted by WikiLeaks, and its founder Julian Assange says he has applied for asylum in Ecuador, Iceland, and possibly other countries.
He added that the ex-National Security Agency contractor is "healthy and safe", but has refused to discuss his whereabouts.
The flight from Moscow to Cuba that Snowden was not on
Assange condemned what he called "bellicose" statements from the US.
Snowden, 30, is accused of espionage by the US after disclosing information on top-secret surveillance programmes

NOW BEING SAID US SPIED ON EU.

Edward Snowden Wants Asylum In RussiaThe whistleblower appears to have given up on finding a safe haven anywhere but Russia as he says the US is blocking his efforts.3:34pm UK, Friday 12 July 2013 Edward Snowden is wanted by the US on espionage charges
EmailIntelligence services whistleblower Edward Snowden has told activists he wants to request asylum in Russia, after accusing the US of trying to stop other countries giving him safe haven.

Snowden has held closed-door talks with rights groups and lawyers at the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for weeks.

Human Rights Watch representative Tanya Lokshina told the Interfax news agency that Snowden revealed he "wants to stay" in Russia.

Russian parliament member Vyacheslav Nikonov, who was also in the meeting, also reported Snowden's intentions to seek asylum.


Entrances were guarded during the meeting at the airport

Meanwhile, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said Snowden might be allowed to stay in Russia if he stops releasing leaks that would damage the US or Russia-US relations, repeating conditions Mr Putin had set out earlier.

But he said he was not aware of any formal request. Snowden has previously made a bid for asylum in Russia but he later withdrew it.

A picture of Snowden at the meeting, taken by Ms Lokshina, shows him with WikiLeaks representative Sarah Harrison on his right.

In a letter to Human Rights Watch earlier, he said the US government was waging a campaign to stop him getting asylum in any other country.


A Russian lawyer speaks to reporters just before entering the meeting

He said: "I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy and accept many offers of support and asylum from brave countries around the world. These nations have my gratitude.

"Unfortunately, in recent weeks we have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in the US government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"The scale of threatening behaviour is without precedent: never before in history have states conspired to force to the ground a sovereign president's plane to effect a search for a political refugee."


Protesters have shown their support for Snowden
That remark appears to refer to how Austrian authorities last week searched the Bolivian president's plane when it was diverted to Vienna because the US suspected Snowden was on board.

Snowden is wanted by the US on espionage charges over a series of leaks about spying programmes, with his most recent claims involving collaboration between Microsoft and American intelligence services.

He fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 and has been in limbo in Sheremetyevo airport's transit area despite three countries - Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia - saying they would be willing to grant him asylum.

Doubts had been raised about whether Snowden could fly from Moscow to any of those countries without passing through the airspace of the US or its allies.

He is seeking to avoid extradition after divulging embarrassing evidence about the activities of US spies, as well as the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ, to newspapers including The Guardian.


Snowden's latest evidence concerns the NSA spying on Skype video calls

The latest files said Microsoft helped America's National Security Agency (NSA) to circumvent encryption so it could view web chats on the Outlook.com portal, which is replacing Hotmail.

Evidence seen by the paper said Microsoft also worked to give the NSA easier access to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which has more than 250 million users. And by July 2012, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the Prism intelligence programme was collecting triple the amount of Skype video calls.

Microsoft told the paper it only provides information about users when demanded to do so by the government.

Snowden's files have also revealed the NSA claimed to have access to the servers of web firms including Apple, Google, Facebook and Yahoo, while GCHQ scans vast amounts of internet traffic through a system of fibre-optic cables.

Related Stories

Edward Snowden: Whistleblower 'Fears For Life'The ex-CIA contractor has apparently not ruled out asking Russia to help protect him from the threat of kidnap or assassination.10:34pm UK, Wednesday 17 July 2013 A supporter of Edward Snowden holds up a picture of him
EmailBy Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

The lawyer claiming to represent US whistleblower Edward Snowden has told Sky News his client fears for his life.

Anatoly Kucherena said Snowden had called him personally to ask for help and that he had submitted his request for asylum to Russia on Tuesday.

He said he expected a temporary document to be issued for his client within seven days, allowing him to leave the Moscow airport where he has been staying.


Anatoly Kucherena says Snowden also fears torture or capital punishment

Mr Kucherena said he was not ruling out asking Russian authorities to help protect Snowden from the threat of kidnap or assassination that the American believes he could face in future.

Mr Kucherena was one of a small group of Russian officials and human rights activists allowed into the transit zone to meet Snowden on Friday and he said he had spent many hours talking to him since.

He told Sky News: "Of course he is afraid for his life and safety, absolutely.

"He wrote this in his request for asylum and it is understandable that he has grounds to be worried, quite substantial grounds.

"He explained his position very clearly - he said that he can't go back to America because he is scared that he could be subjected to torture there and that he could be subjected to capital punishment.


The asylum request was submitted on Tuesday, says Mr Kucherena

"He explained that different statements from representatives of the State Department of the US are blatantly filled with threats towards him, and of course he decided to apply to the Federal Migration Service in Russia because he understands that his life is in danger."

The lawyer said Snowden was still living in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where he has been since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23, although he declined to be more specific.

The US wants the whistleblower sent home to face prosecution for espionage after he leaked details of the Prism surveillance programme.

Mr Kucherena said his client was "fine" and that his living conditions were "acceptable", adding that he had seen worse.

Asked for his impressions of the former CIA contractor, he described Snowden as "a clever man who had opened the eyes of the world to what is going on".


Snowden has said he has "no regrets" over his whistleblowing actions

He said Snowden had agreed to abide by the condition imposed by Russia's President Putin, that he could stay in the country as long as he stopped damaging the United States.

However, Snowden has previously explained that he does not see what he has done as having damaged the US. Rather that by revealing the existence of mass surveillance programmes he is acting in his country's best interests.

The Kremlin has previously said that Snowden’s asylum is not an issue for the president, and Mr Putin on Wednesday dismissed concerns that the affair would overshadow a planned US-Russia summit in September.

He told reporters: "Bilateral relations, in my opinion, are far more important than squabbles about the activities of the secret services.


Intelligence "squabbles" won't affect US-Russia relations, says Mr Putin

"Russia has an independent foreign policy and we will follow it."

White House spokesman Jay Carney has repeatedly called for Russia to send Snowden back, arguing he is not a human rights activist or a dissident, but an individual accused of leaking classified information and as such should return to face the charges against him in the US.

Mr Snowden, however, shows no immediate signs of doing so.

The lawyer said they had discussed the process for applying for Russian citizenship and that he had not ruled it out.

On a lighter note, Kucherena said he had presented Snowden with a Russian ABC book and promised to get him a cat when he moved into his first Russian house.

He said the whistleblower had become "quite emotional" and thanked him for the first present he had received since arriving.