Snowden 'asylum requests to 21 countries' -Wikileaks

[alp227]

Source: BBC

Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has sent asylum requests to 21 countries, according to a statement published by Wikileaks.

They include China, France, Ireland and Venezuela. Russia and Norway confirmed they had received applications.

But Russia said he later withdrew the application as the Kremlin had set conditions.

...

The Wikileaks press release said that most of the asylum requests -including to Russia itself -were handed to the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo airport late on Sunday for delivery to the relevant embassies in Moscow.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23139980

[davidpdx]

1. A story in another thread said he has to apply for asylum in person in most European countries

The current list:

Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia (withdrawn), Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela

There are about a dozen European countries. China pretty much kicked him out, so that's a no. Russia's out. Central or South America might be the only place that will accept him.

[dipsydoodle]

2. To do so

requires no more than getting in to a diplomatic car of one of the relevant countries - cars are an extension of embassies.

What of course would be easier would be for him to simply walk across the tarmac and get into Maduro's private jet today or tomorrow assuming he is in fact still the airport.

[davidpdx]

3. Maybe for Central or South America

Not for most European countries. That's why I said he'd probably have a better chance with them.

[frontier00]

4. Man with no home

several of the other countries where the WikiLeaks says Snowden has applied for asylum have said he cannot apply from abroad. Officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their soil.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130702/nsa-surveillance/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage

[dipsydoodle]

5. see reply #2

Embassies and by extension their diplomatic cars ARE their soil whilst not actually being their own sovereign territory.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. But can diplomatic cars demand entry to the 'neutral' area of the airport?

Especially the part he's in? There may be an agreement that they can drive up to a waiting aircraft, but that doesn't mean they can also go to the sections of the airport that Snowden is allowed to wander. For all Putin's remarks that he has not entered Russia officially, he's in an area that is highly secured, and controlled by Russia. A reporter did an article about checking in to the transit hotel there, and you're extremely limited - there are guards in the corridors, and when he tried to go outside for a smoke (hoping, I think, to get chatting to a guard), he was told that area required a Russian visa.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Broadly speaking

there are only two sides to any airport - air side and land side. They are distinguished more or less by custom controls. When you are air side that's it. The part he is in is air side and air side is air side. Other than safety reasons probably nothing to stop him going for a stroll down a runway.

As far as I'm aware diplomatic cars don't need special passes to get air side even at Heathrow in our case. That would be how for example Assange would be moved if in his instance he was to be granted asylum by Ecuador.

As an aside - I think the US is the only country where you have to go through customs at point of landing unless you don't leave the aircraft. So fuel stops are ok but not landing pending onward routing to another flight even if its to another US airport.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. No - as I said, security is still strict on those in transit

Here's the article:

After a nearly two-hour wait inside the terminal, a bus picks me up — only me — from the transit area. We drive slowly across the tarmac, through a barrier, past electronic gates covered in barbed wire and security cameras.

The main part of the Novotel is out of bounds. My allotted wing feels like a lockup: You are obliged to stay in your room, except for brief walks along the corridor. Three cameras track your movements along the hallway and beam the images back to a multiscreen monitor. It's comforting to see a sign instructing me that, in case of an emergency, the locks on heavily-fortified doors leading to the elevators will open.
...
("Can't I just wait in the lobby after midday?" I asked the receptionist at check-in. "Of course not," she retorted. "You have no visa. You will stay until you are picked up.&quot
...
Rule No. 6: "It is possible to go and smoke one time per hour for 5 minutes in the beginning of each hour escorted by security service."
...
I call the front desk. "You need a visa to go outside and smoke, Mr. Phillips" the receptionist says.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stuck-limbo-hunt-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden-moscow-sheremetyevo-airport-article-1.1385135

"Other than safety reasons" covers everything, basically. When you've passed customs/passport control, you are extremely limited in an airport to where they want you. While diplomatic cars may have permission to go air side, because they have to be allowed to travel freely, that doesn't mean they can demand entry to everywhere (an American diplomat might try to demand consular access to him as an American, but that's not relevant here).

But the car doesn't really matter - it's not like Assange, with policemen waiting to arrest him if he steps foot on Russian soil. What it comes down to is that a country would have to decide to say they're willing to allow Snowden in to their country, and then the Russians will allow him to fly out. You'd need a route that doesn't go through US airspace (he is surely on their no-fly list by now), and if the Americans are feeling vindictive, they might try to pressure some airlines to not take him. But if a country gives a written guarantee they'll let him in, someone will carry him, even if it's the Iranian or Syrian national airlines.

[gholtron]

10. It almost sounds like he is in prison.

He can't leave the area and there are armed guards in the corridor and entry exit points. The beauty thing about this is, he put himself there. The hotel has got to be expsensive. I wonder if this was part of the plan?

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. I'm pretty sure this wasn't part of the plan

I think his problems started when someone questioned the validity of the 'permit to travel' the Ecuadorian embassy in London had sent him, or when Cuba got cold feet about acting as a transit point (which may have happened after the permit was questioned). I don't think the ticket to Cuba was a diversion - he meant to use it.

[brooklynite]

8. What about North Korea? Dennis Rodman could put in a good word.

[NYtoBush-Drop Dead]

12. hysterical...

[Historic NY]

13. He can forget Ireland 61% of the people say nyet...

Besides he has to get there to request asylum .

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/ireland-among-nations-where-snowden-is-seeking-asylum-1.1450212

[Maedhros]

14. I would be in favor of Snowden returning to the U.S. to face charges

if there was some guarantee that the trial would be open and fair. Judging from how the Manning case has played out, this seems unlikely. But it certainly would be the best option.

[Jefferson23]

15. Venezuela ready to help Snowden, but final decision with people - Maduro to RT

Venezuela ready to help Snowden, but final decision with people - Maduro to RT

Published time: July 02, 2013 18:19
Edited time: July 02, 2013 20:04


Caracas is ready to help NSA leaker Edward Snowden, but will “leave the decision to the people” when considering his request for asylum, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has told RT Spanish in an exclusive interview.

"I think we should do something for him and I will leave this decision to the people. We either help him or we close the door and forget about him. We really believe in world peace and world balance. We are not afraid of any kind of empires. I don’t know how many people can hear me in this studio, but there is no empire that can intimidate us," Maduro told Spanish language RT Actualidad.

"This young man has to be protected by the international community. He did with dignity to tell the world that there are mechanisms that are intended to control information and spy on the world," Maduro added.

"If Snowden stays alone, he will be destroyed. But what kind of crimes did he commit? What kind of bombs did he explode or what kind of missiles did he launch? He tries to fight against controlling weak countries. This is why we say that we share what this young man says and that protecting Snowden will protect peace," Maduro said.

Earlier NSA leaker Edward Snowden was reported to have sought asylum in 21 countries, aiming to gain protection against US prosecutors.

When questioned whether Caracas has received an application from Snowden, Maduro said that he has "no official communication that says Snowden applied for asylum in Venezuela."

http://rt.com/news/maduro-snowden-asylum-venezuela-565/