NYT: Assange Says Ecuador Issued Key Travel Doc Last Monday
@GregMitch: NYT just posted interview with Assange--says Ecuador issued key travel doc long ago, last Monday. http://t.co/GugWe8PyU4
In Interview, Assange Describes WikiLeaks’ Role
Our colleague Scott Shane interviewed Julian Assange on Sunday about the role that he and other members of the WikiLeaks organization have been playing in Mr. Snowden’s departure from Hong Kong.
Mr. Assange, who has resided in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for a year because of his fugitive status, said his group had arranged for Mr. Snowden to travel via a “special refugee travel document” issued by Ecuador last Monday — days before the United States announced the criminal charges against him and revoked his passport. Mr. Assange said he believed that Ecuador was still considering Mr. Snowden’s asylum application.
“He left Hong Kong with that document,” Mr. Assange said.
Mr. Assange told Mr. Shane that he had raised Mr. Snowden’s case with Ecuador’s foreign minister in a meeting at the embassy last Monday.
Mr. Assange said it was unclear whether Mr. Snowden’s passport was revoked before he left Hong Kong. But, he said, Mr. Snowden was informed of the revocation when he landed in Moscow. He said it was uncertain whether and where Mr. Snowden might be able to travel from Moscow using the Ecuadorean document, which he described as a “safe pass.”
“Different airlines have different rules, so it’s a technical matter whether they will accept the document,” he said.
He added that the rights of refugees to travel were guaranteed by various international treaties.
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