Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

http://rt.com/news/snowden-entry-airport-asylum-521/

by message • 13 years ago

413 221 13 years ago

mikegioia• 13 years ago

I can honestly say I didn't expect this to happen. Hopefully Snowden can rebuild his life in Russia.

So a few questions here: 1. Will he get KGB (or whatever the current equivalent is in Russia) protection? 2. Is this allowing him to leave just being done to make it easier for the US spooks to snatch him up? 3. Where does he go next? And how does he get there?

agilebyte• 13 years ago

1. FSB

kwal02037• 13 years ago

I don't think He'll be getting any FSB (new KGB) protection. They most likely control him now.

kristofferR• 13 years ago

What's the difference?

tootie5• 13 years ago

I think I'd rather do 2 years at Club Fed in the US than be under FSB control in Russia. I mean, Putin straight kills journalists.

alan_cx4• 13 years ago

Why?

He is no threat to Russia or Putin what so ever. All the information he has is out or in the hands of others. On top of that, Putin is hardly likely to do anything to him apart from send him to the US as some sort of present, since the worlds media will be watching.

Seem to me a lot of this FSB ownership stuff is prejudiced (pre-judged) scare mongering, and simply designed to undermine Snowden and his actions.

I see no reason for the FSB to "control" Snowden at all. Monitor, of course, but who wouldn't? Even if the UK gave him asylum, we'd monitor his whereabouts.

scrrr• 13 years ago

I wish him all the best. He's done many countries a great service. He inspired the search for truth and he made us realise that our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS.

I hope that he will be able to have a good life in Russia, in peace and security. And that his deed will inspire future whistleblowers.

pjmlp4• 13 years ago

... our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS.

I never thought otherwise.

zepolud• 13 years ago

It's safe to assume that most of us accepted that the mass surveillance programs existed. This doesn't diminish the importance of what Snowden did.

It was more of an emperor-has-no-clothes moment than some unexpected, shocking revelation. It forced a lot of people to stop avoiding the problem and to actually start talking about it openly.

chiph• 13 years ago

Classic joke, even more true today: "How do you know when a politician is lying? He opens his mouth."

mikemoka• 13 years ago

Granting asylum to Snowden will just influence relations between US and Russia,and is not done to be coherent with previous standings of the country on the topic of human rights,almost always different.

We have to be careful not to associate concepts like "freedom of speech" and "example of democracy" with countries like Russia, given the actual situation the people there live under I am not sure we can say Russia holds human rights in the highest regard in my opinion.

ihsw• 13 years ago

Exactly, imagine how the situation would've played out if Snowden were gay (or a woman).

alexakarpov• 13 years ago

Can't agree more (Russian here). In Russia it's all about putting up a show of anti-americanism, because that's what the voters like (the one thing that brings back memories of relative security of late Soviet days). Think Osama bin Laden granting asylum to Snowden in some remote Taliban camp.

tomelders• 13 years ago

Well I think this is more to do with Russia thumbing it's nose at the US rather than protecting an individual from tyranny. But fair play to Snowden, it's good news for him. But If I were Snowden, I'd be quietly sneaking out of Russia very soon lest the political winds change and he suddenly finds he's a very valuable pawn in a very dangerous game that he can't win.

kwal02037• 13 years ago

He's already a pawn in a game he can't win. He will have to clear all of his actions with FSB from now on.

clicks3• 13 years ago

That's an over-simplistic view of things and implies that Snowden is perforce the lesser fool. I think it's rather more the reality that Snowden has been quite wise in his planning: he is aware that he is putting Russia in a position where Russia will try its darndest to be on its best behavior in sustaining that "asylum-giving, human-rights protecting" image it has recently gotten.

alan_cx4• 13 years ago

Probably. But can any one name one trust-able perfect country that would give a Snowden type asylum purely on principle, rather than for political reasons?

I'll be honest, Im struggling to think of one.

dotcoma• 13 years ago

Germany should, as explained here: http://ind.pn/12ix0rD

But unfortunately it won't :-/

bryanlarsen• 13 years ago

He's probably hoping that Iceland offers him asylum. Their bill granting him asylum wasn't denied, it just wasn't allowed to be voted on. So perhaps there's still faint hope for asylum in Iceland.

gbog• 13 years ago

He should buy a fake identity and go somewhere else, I'm sure fake passport is easy to get in Russia.

rfctr8• 13 years ago

May be Vatican.

pessimizer• 13 years ago

can any one name one [...] perfect country

No.

clamprecht• 13 years ago

My high school history teacher taught us something that politicians know:

"My enemy's enemy is my friend".

I'm sure there's a concise Russian saying for this.

IgorPartola• 13 years ago

"My friend's friend is my friend" ironically enough.

SimHacker9• 13 years ago

In Soviet Russia, my friend is my enemy's enemy.

celticninja• 13 years ago

to be fair sneaking out of russia is probably not that hard given the huge land borders of the country.

madaxe5• 13 years ago

If you've ever been near a russian land border, you'd know sneaking ain't an option - they're still very much into their 30 foot razor wire fences, and mile wide minefields.

AFAIK, the only borders which aren't demarked as such are those which ramble across incredibly inhospitable desert, which serves the same purpose as razor wire and mines.

junto• 13 years ago

At the moment I can't think of a more politically stable country for Snowden to be in. Latin American countries are historically fickle when it comes to flip-flopping between pro and anti US governments. Russia seems to be a good choice. Much better than China anyway.

olalonde2• 13 years ago

Much better than China anyway.

Why do you think Russia is a much better choice for him then China?

falk6• 13 years ago

I wonder why Glenn Greenwald or the Guardian hasn't written anything about this yet?

acqq4• 13 years ago

Why should he? It was never about the whistleblower but about the Government of U.S. First Bush administration, now Obama administration and the difference between the things they say and the things they do.

falk6• 13 years ago

He and other writers at the Guardian have written about Snowden on multiple occasions. I haven't seen any other news outlets reporting that Snowden has been cleared or is on the verge of being cleared.

Edit: I just found some additional sources.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/24/us-russia-snowden-...

http://www.businessinsider.com/report-edward-snowden-is-now-...

JosephRedfern• 13 years ago

They have now. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/24/edward-snowden-m...

acqq4• 13 years ago

Quoting Reuters. As far as I understand, Greenwald wouldn't make an aricle that would just involve tracking Snowden's steps like it would of some celebrity. It's exactly the distraction of talking about the messenger instead of the message.

twentyfourseven• 13 years ago

This news made my day. The safety of Snowden has been on my mind for weeks. Hopefully he'll make it all the way to sunny Bolivia.

pjmlp4• 13 years ago

It won't matter, now he will have to keep watching his back every second.

rocky1138• 13 years ago

In an ironic twist of fate, living like Josh Harris, with cameras live streaming him 24/7 from now on might keep him safe.

jaydz• 13 years ago

I actually hope he stays put in Russia. These Latin American countries would be an easy target for the American govt to bully.

shreeshga• 13 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SORM: Snowden's next target.

guard-of-terra• 13 years ago

What is there to blow whistle about? Everybody knows about it.

canadiancreed• 13 years ago

Guess relations between Russia and the US aren't as important after all.

Always found it odd (possibly ironic?) that he left to countries infamous for not being well known for their love of free speech. Then again as one poster here put it, where else would he go that isn't as restrictive and doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S.?

Wonder if this will inspire whistle blowers in Russia now?

Drakim• 13 years ago

Snowden is just a guy, he doesn't need to be some flawless saint to point out that the US government is lying and spying on it's citizens.

belorn• 13 years ago

The irony is that Russians seeking asylum in the US has been a stereotypic event, to the point where it was made into a musical called Chess.

Wonder if this will inspire whistle blowers in Russia now?

And what kind of secrets, unknown to the Russian public are you thinking about? Whistleblowing is about informing the citizen about secret actions made by the state (or rich company) that shows corruption or lies. If the action is not secret, then there is nothing to blow about. If the state do not deny spying or corruption, then what can the whistleblower say? "Oooo, look! What the government says is correct, and they are indeed doing what they say they are" aren't exactly whistleblowing. News maybe, but not whistleblowing. The government have to first claim to be the land of the free before someone can contradict them on it.

osmsiberiano3• 13 years ago

There is a famous whistleblower now running in the elections for Moscow mayor office. And there are a lot of such people, although they haven't dug as deeply as Snowden.

Unfortunately, the story here in the media has boiled down to international spying scandal, the original statement - that it violates some US constitution amendment - has been forgotten.

Justsignedup• 13 years ago

in a backwards twist of fate... Russia is protecting people from the United states for freedom of speech.

wellboy2• 13 years ago

Does that mean he accepted the demands of Russia of not being able to disclose any further information anymore?

kwal02037• 13 years ago

Exactly.

yitchelle• 13 years ago

I wonder if the non-disclosure is also for the Russians.

brown9-22• 13 years ago

This presumes that the Russian government actually cares about that supposed demand.

wellboy2• 13 years ago

Oh, I meant that Snowden can't disclose any further information about the NSA, which was given as a condition by Russia if Snowden wants Russian asylum.

pdknsk2• 13 years ago

I wonder if his next target is Wladiwostok. It seems less complicated to get to Latin America from there, if he still wants to.

WildUtah3• 13 years ago

There are no direct flights. You have to connect through Tokyo or Shanghai or the USA.

pdknsk2• 13 years ago

Well, you can easily make it a direct flight. I have no idea how much hiring a pilot and a plane capable of crossing the pacific non-stop costs, but it's probably well within his (or his supporters) means.

By complicated I mainly meant the countries he does not have to fly over.

ivan_gammel2• 13 years ago

It's much more complicated to get to LatAm from Vladivostok than an Aeroflot flight from Moscow. I think there's simply no direct flights - it's not an airline hub.

gexla• 13 years ago

I wonder how much pay he would get as a sys admin in Russia. He might want to leave that bit about stealing secrets from his employer's client and leaking them to the world off his resume.

ck2• 13 years ago

Fortunate for him he is not gay (as far as we know) as that's illegal in Russia and would prevent entry?

In any case I hope he stays safe and I thank him for his sacrifice.

danabramov• 13 years ago

Being gay isn't illegal in Russia, “gay propaganda” is. This doesn't make the law less absurd.

jeena• 13 years ago

Good for Snowden that he is not homosexual or leaked "Gay propaganda" so he won't end up in jail in russia ... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-c...

ForrestN• 13 years ago

Yeah. If I were Snowden I wouldn't trust this evil government in the least. Hopefully he's still looking for somewhere else to go.

kwal02037• 13 years ago

So true. And people are going around singing Russia's praises on human rights now they are considering his asylum. It's so wrong.

notdrunkatall• 13 years ago

Be careful out there...

pvnick• 13 years ago

It seems he accepted Putin's terms to not release anymore information. I wonder if that means no more information coming out, period, or that since most/all of the information is now with third parties that it's their responsibility. I doubt Putin likes being disrespected with loopholes and technicalities, but I more-so doubt that Snowden would halt the revelations altogether for the sake of his own safety. I suspect this was discussed and that Russian officials agreed to the continued release of what is no longer under Snowden's control.

Does anybody have any more information on that?

rantanplan2• 13 years ago

I think that Putin simply cares about appearing cooperative with his American "friends", so as to avoid any repercussions. Also there is definitely some play on words here, since we know that Snowden cannot have any control about the information he has already given to various individuals. So yes, he probably won't release any more info personally.

vog• 13 years ago

But imagine he violates the requiements and releases more information. Would that actually be a problem for him?

Putin already said that he won't send him to a country where he may be sentenced to death. So even in that case, he probably won't be sent to the US but to some other country than grants asylum to him.

samstave• 13 years ago

Also, when Putin says "don't release" he is NOT saying "don't give to me"....

osmsiberiano3• 13 years ago

He _is_ cooperative. Inside, he claims we're under an attack of US spies or US propaganda, etc. But when it's time to act abroad, he is too weak to make anything substantial that would annoy the neocon US President.

Just as Italy replied to Snowden that he should have brought the request personally, our ministry of immigration finds excuses like "the procedure takes time..."

VladRussian2• 13 years ago

For Putin harboring an "active" foreign dissident would make it just a little bit harder to make live less awesome for the internal dissidents. On the other side, giving protection from "evil" Americans to a young naive guy who is being too harshly pursued by the whole overwhelming force of the said Americans' government for possibly violating some obscure laws in order to defend and promote democracy and openness, etc.. - well, Putin looks almost like a good Samaritan (God forbid that Samaritan come to your help like he came for Snowden) and, by proxy, a democracy defender and promoter :)

rfctr8• 13 years ago

Snowden will halt the revelations abruptly. He would be a fool to break the agreement with Putin.

Putin is a man of his word, and expects the same from Snowden.

Information may continue to leak, but not from Snowden. His part of the show is finished (and luckily for him, he's not even bruised!).

andreypopp7• 13 years ago

Putin is a man of his word

:-)

grimtrigger2• 13 years ago

My guess is that Putin would be happy to have Snowden break the agreement, as long as he doesn't go to the press and take credit for it. Putin's government has been working constantly to undermine America's foreign influence, and these leaks go a long way towards doing that.

mjolk3• 13 years ago

Information may continue to leak, but not from Snowden. His part of the show is finished (and luckily for him, he's not even bruised!).

In my opinion, being exiled from your home and living the rest of your life with the world superpower ready to kidnap you is relatively bruising.

hobbes• 13 years ago

It's quite possible Snowden has already passed on all his information to other parties. There's no need for Snowden to be the messenger any more.

steveklabnik2• 13 years ago

It's not quite possible, it's factual: http://rt.com/news/snowden-leaks-guardian-greenwald-264/

(well, maybe 'almost all' rather than 'all.')

znowi• 13 years ago

Which is the right thing to do. Perhaps then people start paying more attention to the leaks instead of the messenger.

ra• 13 years ago

Now the headline has changed to: "Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now - lawyer"

... so it seems RT popped their cork too early. Explains why the Guardian didn't cover this yet.

falk6• 13 years ago

Yep. Got this from a live blog that Greenwald tweeted a little while ago.

"Federal migration service has not issued documents allowing Edward Snowden to leave the airport yet, there was a misinformation today in the media, said Kucherena."

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_07_24/Edward-Snowden-leaves-Sher...

chli• 13 years ago

Didn't Snowden say that this was only temporary so he could secure a flight to a south american country at some point ?

mkramlich• 13 years ago

meh. everything's temporary, technically. the line blurs between that and "not temporary"

mcantelon• 13 years ago

My guess is Putin requested this to placate the US rather than out of concern. Yesterday the US and Russia both announced they'd be arming opposing sides in Syria, so placating the US might not be as big a priority now.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-russia-simultaneously-annou...

Everlag• 13 years ago

Oh goddammit! I thought we were over Russia and the US doing that cold war bullshit.

Seriously, if you're going to fight a war fight an economic war, much less destructive to other people than the little proxy wars the big boys seems to love so much.

popee• 13 years ago

You are not material for politician -> good thing :-) But don't be naive, they say lot of gibberish. Only thing that matters is interest.

wavesounds• 13 years ago

I think that 'no more information' is just a temporary thing until he gets out of Russia into a country where he has asylum.

wdr1• 13 years ago

I suspect the arrangement is he ceases to disseminate any new information during his stay in Russia. This avoids any undue tension in the US-Russian relations.

Once he's left Russia, I suspect he'll be able to continue his activities.

anuraj• 13 years ago

Snowden has completed his historic duty - now he can fade into the annals of history as a man who stood for something.

k-mcgrady2• 13 years ago

Live blog over here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/24/edward-snowden-m...

petercooper2• 13 years ago

There's an inch thick of delicious, buttery irony spread over a slice of Onion-tasting bread here. Asylum granted by a state that once sent 14 million people, primarily those who didn't agree with the authorities, into forced labor camps with millions meeting their deaths from malnutrition, exposure, and summary executions.. and which is still attempting to outlaw homosexuality.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire!

baby2• 13 years ago

Just want to point out that what you're talking about was past, and a different government. It's like saying America is the country where black people were slaves when talking about America's decisions in recent events.

SimHacker9• 13 years ago

Just want to point out that Russia just passed a law banning "gay propaganda" -- their term for saying anything true or positive about homosexuality. The CURRENT government. Signed by Putin. Passed unanimously by the parliament. Did you ignore that fact because you support that law and don't consider it a violation of human rights?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banni...

And black people are certainly still widely discriminated against and treated unfairly in the United States. Have you ever heard of Trayvon Martin? The incarceration rates of blacks versus whites? The Republican Party? Its leader, Rush Limbaugh? Voter suppression? The Southern Strategy? I could go on and on. Do you believe that racism is no longer an issue in the United States, because your glorious leader Rush Limbaugh told you so?

brown9-22• 13 years ago

I don't think you need to look that far into Russia's past to find more relevant ironies, just look at the Navalny case: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16057045

baby2• 13 years ago

Just a stupid question but where did he sleep if he had to stay at the airport?

rada3• 13 years ago

Sheremetyevo airport’s transit zone encompasses three terminals and includes a capsule hotel and a wing of the Novotel.

jitbit• 13 years ago

I'm Russian. This is done only to annoy the US. Russian gov-t has nothing to do with freedom of speech etc. It's just to tease the White House.

andreypopp7• 13 years ago

How the fact that you are Russian makes you know why it was done?

mpyne3• 13 years ago

Are you saying he's have the same level of insight if he was from Saskatchewan, Canada?

jensC• 13 years ago

I simply wish him good luck!

ramanan• 13 years ago

The situation is still evolving. The article has been updated since the initial HN posting and the title now reads 'Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now - lawyer'.

k-mcgrady2• 13 years ago

"Snowden's temporary asylum request is still undecided and he is to remain in Sheremetyevo airport's transit zone for now, Reuters is reporting, citing the whistleblower's lawyer."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/24/edward-snowden-m...

dschiptsov• 13 years ago

...after writing down and signing the "pokazaniya" on everything he knew.))

hannibal52• 13 years ago

I just want to point out that if Snowden would have been spying for Russia or China, he would not have any these problems. Countries don't return people who spy for them.

His knowledge is very likely still valuable and he could turn into traitor any day and Russia would take good care of him. He would get money, pension, citizenship and nice Datcha to live in. He is this predicament because he has not given up his principles.

teleological2• 13 years ago

The notion that defectors are lavishly rewarded -- a notion that Snowden encouraged in his comment about palaces and petting a phoenix -- is at odds with the historical record. Consider Kim Philby. After the act of defection has been milked for propaganda, the defector is dispatched to guarded obscurity.

It's hard to know what's really happening between Snowden and his hosts. The notion that Russia's hands are legally tied and that Snowden is just hanging out at the airport as a logistically challenged but ultimately free agent is absurd, but it's understandable why Russia is staging that diplomatic farce.

As for Snowden's role, if he has valuable knowledge and he has not "given up his principles" -- so much the worse for him. He'll get a chance to reconsider the boast that he "cannot be coerced into revealing that information, even under torture." It could have already happened, with the bit about resisting torture ghost-written by amused interrogators.

hannibal52• 13 years ago

Kim Philby spied for political reasons, not for money as were most spies who fled to USSR. They all got KGB pensions and medals.

Snowden has been accompanied by Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks. He is not alone and isolated with Russians.

denzil_correa• 13 years ago

For now, Snowden stays in the airport says his lawyer. However, considering the tone of the statement it looks like he will soon receive one.

    cnnbrk: Lawyer: Snowden hasn't yet received document that 
    would allow him outside of Moscow airport.

https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/360047355329921025

caycep• 13 years ago

For some reason the theme music from "Hunt for Red October" keeps playing in my head...

dpatac• 13 years ago

I feel like the title of this is a lie as the article states something different. I hate being lied to and manipulated.

SurfScore• 13 years ago

The Tom Hanks movie "The Terminal" seems rather relevant here.

ryguytilidie• 13 years ago

I'm curious how Snowden has been living in this airport. Is he literally sleeping in the terminal or is there an airport hotel he is staying in?

TheLegace• 13 years ago

Last I read he's staying in a fairly decent hotel. Not sure how he's paying for it(maybe donations, maybe he saved his money).

Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

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