Limited Asylum Options For Edward Snowden

Limited Asylum Options For Edward Snowden

Asylum options of Edward Snowden have started to become limited as more countries have rejected his request for asylum as he tries to avoid extradition back into the US.

Some of these countries required the applicant to be physically present in their respective countries. Snowden sent asylum requests to twenty-one countries including Russia. The intelligence leaker later abandoned his asylum request to Russia.

However, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, reportedly indicated that he will take his request into consideration. He said that his country is willing to accept anyone who discloses espionage, although they have yet to receive the asylum request.

In addition to President Morales, President Nicolas Maduro also communicated his support for Edward Snowden, indicating that he should be given protection from the US. However, he has yet to formally receive the asylum request.

President Morales and President Maduro are attending a meeting for gas-exporting nations in Moscow.

The US is seeking to arrest the former National Security Agency contractor for leaking confidential information while he was working with the NSA. James Clapper, the National Intelligence director, recently made an apology for informing Congress last March that the NSA was not gathering information on American citizens.

Lon Snowden, the father of Edward, is reportedly working on the return of his son to the US on the condition that he will be treated fairly and given a fair trial. He was also concerned with the influence of Wikileaks on the situation of his son.

The classified information that Edward Snowden leaked resulted to a disclosure on the systematic collection of phone and internet information by the US. A common stand by the European Union was recommended by President Francois Hollande of France over the claims on the supposed spying activities of the US in Europe.

The asylum requests of Edward Snowden were delivered to the embassies of the different countries through the consulate of Russia at the Sheremetyevo airport, a Wikileaks representative revealed.

Among the countries that considered the request invalid since the applicant was not in their respective countries were Spain, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, and Poland.

Brazil has yet to respond to the asylum request while France did not receive the official request for asylum. Snowden withdrew his asylum request to Russia following the statement of President Vladimir Putin that he can stay if he stopped leaking confidential information.

Edward Snowden already sent an asylum request to Ecuador, although President Rafael Correa indicated that the request can be taken into consideration when the former NSA contractor reaches Ecuador or the embassy of Ecuador.

Posted by James Fried on Friday July 05 2013, 6:17 AM EST. Ref: BBC. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0