http://rt.com/news/snowden-asylum-venezuela-nicaragua-801/
The White House says it is already petitioning Venezuela, as well asBolivia, Nicaragua and Russia to immediately capture Snowden and turn him over to the US, saying that since the US has charged him with crimes he can’t be allowed to travel again. This is, of course, not how asylum works, and Venezuela is likely to reject any requests.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has confirmed that his country received an official request for asylum from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on Monday. This comes after Nicaragua received his asylum application at its Moscow embassy.
“We received a letter requesting asylum” from Snowden, revealed Maduro, during a press conference prior to a meeting with Panama’s president, Ricardo Martinelli.
The fugitive "will need to decide when he will fly here," added the Venezuelan head of state.
Maduro last week said that his country would provide Snowden with a safe haven from "persecution from the empire."
Earlier on Monday Nicaragua confirmed that it also received Snowden's official asylum request. “Nicaragua is an open country that respects the right to asylum,” the country's ambassador to Russia Luis Alberto Molina Cuadra told RT
“It is possible that Snowden’s application is already being looked at. It will be considered at the highest level, by the top politicians of our country.”
On Friday Nicaragua’s Sandinista President Daniel Ortega declared that he would receive the US citizen “with pleasure”, if “circumstances permit”.
Snowden’s initial application letter, with the dateline “Moscow, June 30” has also been revealed.
“It is possible that Snowden’s application is already being looked at. It will be considered at the highest level, by the top politicians of our country.”
On Friday Nicaragua’s Sandinista President Daniel Ortega declared that he would receive the US citizen “with pleasure”, if “circumstances permit”.
Snowden’s initial application letter, with the dateline “Moscow, June 30” has also been revealed.
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He is believed to have submitted asylum applications to at least 21 countries, but his current options have been whittled to down to three Latin American states, as others have either rejected him, or demand that he first travel to the country, without guaranteeing that his application will be successful.
On Monday, Uruguay’s first lady, Senator Lucia Topolansky, said that her country would consider giving asylum to Snowden, RIA Novosti reports. “This issue should be considered, once a request is filed,” Topolansky said. “Uruguay has traditionally been a country that grants asylum. I think that every country is free to shelter whomever it wants."
On Monday, Uruguay’s first lady, Senator Lucia Topolansky, said that her country would consider giving asylum to Snowden, RIA Novosti reports. “This issue should be considered, once a request is filed,” Topolansky said. “Uruguay has traditionally been a country that grants asylum. I think that every country is free to shelter whomever it wants."
“Every country has its own rules and makes its own decisions, and no one is allowed to interfere with the sovereignty of other nations,” she added.
When US security sources presumably ascertained that the fugitive computer programmer might be on the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales leaving Moscow last Tuesday, four European countries shut their airspace, forcing the Latin American leader to make an emergency landing in Austria, where officials reportedly searched the aircraft.
Following the diplomatic incident, which prompted an emergency council of South American states, Morales has also offered Snowden asylum.
If Snowden were to travel out of Moscow on a scheduled flight, he would likely have to make a changeover in Cuba. Leader Raul Castro has said that he supports Snowden’s application, but made no mention of whether the country would offer asylum, or simply safe passage.
Following the diplomatic incident, which prompted an emergency council of South American states, Morales has also offered Snowden asylum.
If Snowden were to travel out of Moscow on a scheduled flight, he would likely have to make a changeover in Cuba. Leader Raul Castro has said that he supports Snowden’s application, but made no mention of whether the country would offer asylum, or simply safe passage.
US Presses Venezuela, Others for Snowden’s Capture
Ireland Rejects Arrest Warrant Citing Lack of Details
by Jason Ditz, July 08, 2013
The Venezuelan government has confirmed that whistleblower Edward Snowden hasmet the deadline for filing for asylum in their nation, and that at this point he only needs to decide “when he will fly here.” Snowden remains in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
The White House says it is already petitioning Venezuela, as well asBolivia, Nicaragua and Russia to immediately capture Snowden and turn him over to the US, saying that since the US has charged him with crimes he can’t be allowed to travel again. This is, of course, not how asylum works, and Venezuela is likely to reject any requests.
The US also seems to be struggling with its paperwork on arrest warrants elsewhere, with the Irish High Court spurning a US request because the US wouldn’t say where Snowden allegedly committed the “crimes.”
That’s uncertain at any rate, but a big issue, because if Snowden violated US law outside of the US, the question of extraterritoriality becomes central, and at least in Ireland, there would need to be an Irish equivalent to the laws the US are citing.
It’s like the US deliberately avoided including this on the form if it did take place overseas, as the US has regularly been criticized for having harsh punishments for whistleblowers that treat them as spies under the Espionage Act.
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