Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Russia May Grant Asylum To NSA Leaker Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden: Russia Offers To Consider Asylum Request -- The Guardian

Vladimir Putin's spokesman says any appeal for asylum from whistleblower who fled US will be looked at 'according to facts'

Russia has offered to consider an asylum request from the US whistleblower Edward Snowden in the Kremlin's latest move to woo critics of the west.

Snowden fled the United States before leaking the details of a top-secret US surveillance programme to the Guardian earlier this month. He is currently believed to be in Hong Kong, but has reportedly changed hotels to keep his location secret.

Fearing US retaliation, Snowden said at the weekend that "my predisposition is to seek asylum in a country with shared values", citing Iceland as an example. He also defended his decision to flee to Hong Kong by citing its relative freedom compared to mainland China.

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My Comment: Regular readers of this blog know that my nationality is Russian .... and I follow Russian news very closely. It is a fascinating to watch what Russians are thinking about the NSA scandal .... in short .... this is all feeding into the Russian perception that America's intelligence community is all powerful and influential. As to the question ..... will Russia give Edward Snowden asylum? If the Russian pundits that I listen to are any indication .... the answer is a big yes.

Hmmmm .... giving up Hawaii for the cold of Russia .... not a choice that I would make.

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