"Big news is that #Snowden is applying for political asylum in Russia" (updated)

[ProSense]

Ellen Barry @EllenBarryNYT

Big news is that #Snowden is applying for political asylum in Russia, despte Putin's condition that he stop publishing. from @TanyaLokshina
9:23 AM - 12 Jul 2013

36 Retweets 3 favorites

Ellen Barry @EllenBarryNYT

From @TanyaLokshina @hrw : "I am only in a position to accept Russia's offer because of my inability to travel." #Snowden
9:21 AM - 12 Jul 2013

35 Retweets 2 favorites

Ellen Barry @EllenBarryNYT

From @TanyaLokshina @hrw : #Snowden says govts in W. Europe, N.America are acting outside the law, preventing me from traveling.
9:20 AM - 12 Jul 2013

Ellen Barry @EllenBarryNYT

From @TanyaLokshina @hrw #Snowden says he can only have guaranteed safety to stay temporarily in Russia is with asylum, so asking for it.
9:18 AM - 12 Jul 2013

34 Retweets 3 favorites

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/12/edward-snowden-to-meet-amnesty-and-human-rights-watch-at-moscow-airport-live-coverag#block-51e003ebe4b07e1786aa04fa

Updated to add:

Ellen Barry of the New York Times is in contact with Human Rights Watch's Tanya Lokshina, who is in the Snowden meeting.

She says that Snowden is saying he wants to remain in Russia and travel, and he wants international organisations to petition the US and EU not to interfere with that.

Referring to Putin's condition that he can only stay if he stops harming the US, Snowden apparently has said: "No actions I take or plan are meant to harm the US ... I want the US to succeed."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/12/edward-snowden-to-meet-amnesty-and-human-rights-watch-at-moscow-airport-live-coverag#block-51e0072ae4b019f8d7037ac8

Interesting.

[BenzoDia]

1. Was all the media hoopla necessary? Wikileaks could've just told us all this.

[ProSense]

2. I think

"Was all the media hoopla necessary? Wikileaks could've just told us all this."

...it's an attempt to bolster his case for asylum. Create the impression that he's escaping "persecution."

The update about requesting asylum in Russia and wanting to stay there is strange.

[Andy823]

3. The whole thing has been strange

From day one this has been on strange "scandal". I am still waiting for all the "huge news" that will surely bring down president Obama, or so the right wing media keeps saying. If a person is so concerned about human rights, and privacy for the people, why go to countries that have "NO" privacy and allow no human rights for their citizens?

It just seems to bring up more and more questions that need to be answered.

[BenzoDia]

6. Yeah, and the lack of "actual" abuses that have occured is alarming.

People basically stirred up because they've read 1984 before.

[randome]

10. 'Stirred up' at DU and a few other places.

I don't hear much about Snowden elsewhere.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. So much for the beaches of Margarita Island...

[ProSense]

5. He made the claim that

he has been recognized by the UN as a refugee, but there is no evidence that is the case.

According to Ellen Barry and Tanya Lokshina, Snowden is saying he cannot appeal to international organisations because they require that you come to them.

He says he is recognised as an asylum seeker by the UN High Commission on Refugees – but the US, he says, does not recognise this, as the Morales plane affair showed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/12/edward-snowden-to-meet-amnesty-and-human-rights-watch-at-moscow-airport-live-coverag#block-51e007f4e4b0d557cc000969

http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/24/why-edward-snowden-isnt-a-refugee/

There Are 12 Million Stateless People Around The World, But Edward Snowden Isn’t One Of Them
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023149095

[BeyondGeography]

7. Who knows why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon...

[ProSense]

8. I think he's trying to trick the Russians into granting him asylum.

Grant it and I'll stop leaking, but let me leave after that so I can go on leaking.

LOL!

[Capt. Obvious]

9. How is the toilet paper supply in Russia?

[treestar]

11. They are perfectly within the law not to allow him to travel.

What a sense of entitlement.

[Scurrilous]

12. He wants to travel!!

LOL

Good luck with that!