Edward Snowden asks for asylum in Ecuador - as it happened
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The NSA whistleblower left Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, two days after the US charged him with espionage, before applying for asylum in Ecuador
LIVE Updated
Peter Walker and Jim Newell
Sun 23 Jun 2013 16.11 EDTFirst published on Sun 23 Jun 2013 04.52 EDT
His plane arrived in Russia shortly after 5pm local time. Snowden is not believed to have a Russian visa and is thought to be staying overnight at a capsule hotel inside Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after reportedly being met on the tarmac by diplomatic cars.
From State department chief spokesperson Jen Psaki:
As is routine and consistent with US regulations, persons with felony arrest warrants are subject to having their passport revoked. Such a revocation does not affect citizenship status. Persons wanted on felony charges, such as Mr. Snowden, should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States. Because of the Privacy Act, we cannot comment on Mr. Snowden's passport specifically.
Congressman Peter King, always in search of a microphone, has been making the television rounds this afternoon. He's not pleased with senator Rand Paul, one of the few politicians who finds merit in Edward Snowden's deeds.
“I think it is important for the American people to realize that this guy is a traitor, a defector, he’s not a hero,” the congressman added. “And I heard Senator Rand Paul this morning actually compared Snowden to General Clapper. What’s happened to our country? This is a traitor, and for anyone to be comparing him to a U.S. military hero is absolutely disgraceful.”
Edward Snowden was five hours into his flight from Hong Kong, having already been served one of two hot meals, when news of his departure to Moscow began to electrify media organisations all over the world.
The Hong Kong authorities waited until Snowden was safely out of Chinese airspace before sending out a short press release that confirmed the intelligence whistle-blower had been allowed to leave on Aeroflot flight SU213, bound for Russia.
The 30-year-old had not been stopped on his way to Chek Lap Kok airport, and was allowed to slip away on a hot and humid morning, despite American demands that he be arrested and extradited to face trial for espionage offences.
The reason?
The Americans had mucked up the legal paperwork, the authorities claimed in a statement released at 4.05pm local time.
Meanwhile, back on the U.S. politics front, senators have been continuing to take their shots:
“I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there will be consequences if they harbor this guy,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C. said on Fox News Sunday.
Some pent-up rage against the Russian government is coming out, it appears.
Here are more politicians and commentators all making the same joke about how press freedom isn't great in a number of the countries Snowden may be allegedly considering.
As Jonathan Watts mentioned earlier, the environment for "private media" is a major issue in Ecuador these days. Here's a recent piece in the New York Times about new regulations governing the media that domestic "opponents say will quash freedom of expression."
If Snowden's passport was revoked Saturday, as reported, it's still hard to understand how he would have left Hong Kong without a transit visa. As to whether he could depart the Moscow airport for another country, that's up to the other country.
Revoked passport wouldn't prevent travel to a country that wanted Snowden but would complicate travel to other 3rd countries & through them
WikiLeaks has released a statement claiming that Snowden is "bound for Ecuador" and is awaiting the processing of his application for asylum:
Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally. He is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.
Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives in Ecuador his request will be formally processed.
Former Spanish Judge Mr Baltasar Garzon, legal director of Wikileaks and lawyer for Julian Assange has made the following statement:
"The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person. What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people".
His plane arrived in Russia shortly after 5pm local time. Snowden is not believed to have a Russian visa and is thought to be staying overnight at a capsule hotel inside Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after reportedly being met on the tarmac by diplomatic cars.
ABC reports that Snowden's passport was revoked on Saturday, leaving US officials even more baffled as to how he was allowed to fly out from Hong Kong. It is, however, unlikely to be a problem for Russia – if Snowden is in transit and never leaves the airport, his immigration status is not Moscow's issue.
This clip from NBC's Meet the Press gives an interesting illustration of some of the sentiment in the US at the moment. Glenn Greenwald, who wrote about Snowden's revelations for the Guardian, is asked by host David Gregory (from 1m 40s in) why he should not himself be charged with a crime for having "aided and abetted" the whistleblower. Greenwald is understandably not impressed.
Coincidence or not? Two cars from the Ecuadorean embassy outside the terminal at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where Edward Snowden is believed to have landed.
Snowden is still in transit at Sheremetyevo airport, according to an airport source, quoted by Interfax. An Aeroflot source said he had taken a small overnight room at terminal E.
"He has arrived. He cannot leave the terminal, since he doesn't have a Russian visa," said the Aeroflot source.
Photograph: Sergei Karpukkin/Reuters Photograph: SERGEI KARPUKHIN/REUTERS
Journalism in action: reporters in Moscow use an iPad to show passengers arriving from Hong Kong a photograph of Edward Snowden, to confirm he was on the plane.
Jonathan Watts, our Latin America correspondent, has been looking at the pros and cons of two possible refuges for Snowden:
Venezuela
FOR: Good flight links between Caracas and Havana. Under Hugo Chávez, Venezuela led a growing number of South American nations that distanced themselves politically from the US, while remaining far more democratic than China or Cuba. Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro has maintained the anti-US rhetoric so is likely to be willing to embrace Snowden. Beautiful climate and great Caribbean beaches.
AGAINST: Although a far lesser threat than China or Russia, Venezuela is seen by many in the US as a hostile nation that is under the influence of Cuba. Yet, it is also possible that – as a democracy – the country could get a pro-US leader at the next presidential election in 2018. Murder rates in Caracas are among the highest in the world so an assassination attempt might be disguised as just another street crime. Very expensive.
Ecuador
FOR: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted refuge here, though he is currently still holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London. WikiLeaks claimed today that it is helping Snowden to secure asylum in "a democratic nation via a safe route". Although Ecuador is relatively small, it has strong regional allies and economic support from China, which strengthens its ability to resist extradition requests. It has democratic elections and President Rafael Correa is not afraid of standing up to the US and Europe. Quito is a stunning city in the mountains with great food, decent internet, reasonable prices and easy access to Pacific beaches and Amazon forest.
AGAINST: In terms of media freedom, this is no Iceland. Correa has been heavily criticised for cracking down on private media groups, though there is still a diverse range of opinion on TV and in newspapers. A new presidential election must be held in four years, which could usher in a leader who is less willing to grant asylum to foreign whistleblowers. The altitude in Quito takes some getting used to.
Birgitta Jónsdóttir, an Icelandic MP and internet freedom activist, has written a handy guide on the obstacles facing Snowden if he opted to head for her country (which was mooted but now seems unlikely). Essentially, she warns, Snowden would not be safe unless the government granted him citizenship, as it did to the chess player Bobby Fischer when he faced US punishment for breaking a sporting embargo on the then-Yugosalvia.
Seeking political asylum is a process that can take s long time, and there are no guarantees granted against extradition while the process is ongoing. However, since Snowden faces possible death sentence his case is stronger, for it is illegal to extradite a person who faces a death sentence from Iceland. It is important to note that Iceland has a terrible track record when it comes to granting political asylum to people seeking shelter, as it is hardly ever granted and thus a too dangerous path to be recommended for Snowden...
It is important to note that there has not been any formal requests for asylum from Snowden to the Icelandic government and thus impossible for them to respond with affirmative answer until such a request has been received.
We have noted relevant reports but are not aware of the specifics. We will continue to follow its development. Hong Kong is ruled by law. On the basis of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the principle of "one country, two systems", the central government always respects the HKSAR government's handling of affairs in accordance with law.
On the hacking allegations:
We are gravely concerned about the recently disclosed cyber attacks by relevant US government agencies against China. It shows once again that China falls victim to cyber attacks. We have made representations with the US.
"[Snowden is] clearly an individual who's betrayed the trust and confidence we had in him. This is an individual who is not acting, in my opinion, with noble intent."
On allegations the NSA hacked text messages from Chinese mobile phones: "To say that we're willfully just collecting all sorts of data would give you the impression that we're just trying to canvas the whole world.
"The fact is what we're trying to do is get the information our nation needs, the foreign intelligence, that primary mission, in this case and the case that Snowden has brought up is in defending this nation from a terrorist attack.
"Now we have other intelligence interests just like other nations do. That's what you'd expect us to do. We do that right. Our main interest: who's collecting on us? And I'd just say let's look back at where that source comes from...
"I'm confident that we're following the laws that our country has in doing what we do. We have a set of laws that guide how NSA acts; we follow those laws. We have tremendous oversight by all three portions of the government: the courts, Congress and the administration.
"Now when you look at these laws and the way they've been passed and the oversight mechanisms that we have, I am confident that we are following our laws."
Interfax is now reporting that Snowden might spend the night at the Venezuelan embassy in Moscow before leaving on Monday for Havana, en route to Caracas.
Here's some more US reaction to Snowden's flight to Russia. First, Mike Rogers (see below), on NBC's Meet the Press:
On Cuba and Venezuela: "Every one of those nations is hostile to the United States."
And why the US should seek his return: "When you think about what he says he wants and what his actions are, it defies logic."
And then Democrat senator Charles Schumer on CNN's State of the Union, saying Russia's Vladimir Putin most likely approved of the plan:
Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden... Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways.
Reuters has been listening to Mike Rogers, the Republic congressman who chairs the Intelligence Select Committee. The initial quotes have Rogers arguing that Snowden's flight "defies logic" given his self-stated whistleblower status, and that the US should use all legal options to have him brought to the US.
Various tweets are citing Russia's Interfax news agency as saying Snowden was met on the airport tarmac by a Venezuelan diplomat, who took him away in a car.
#Russia's Interfax news agency reports Venezuelan diplomat picked Snowden up in a car on tarmac at Moscow airport. Whisked him away #NSA
Dominic Rushe sends this statement from a US department of justice spokeswoman:
As we stated yesterday, the United States had contacted authorities in Hong Kong to seek the extradition of Mr Snowden, based on the criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, and in accordance with the US-Hong Kong agreement for the surrender of fugitive offenders.
We have been informed by the Hong Kong authorities Mr Snowden has departed for a third country. We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr Snowden may be attempting to travel.
My colleague Dominic Rushe in New York has been speaking to a US extradition expert:
Douglas McNabb, founder of McNabb Associates, a law firm that specialises in extradition cases, points out that the US has extradition treaties with both Venezuela and Cuba but not Russia.
Cuba's treaties date back to 1904 and 1905 and Venezuela's to 1922 and 1923.
“There are old but valid treaties with both Venezuela and Cuba. But the US doesn’t exactly have great international relations with either of those countries. In any of these countries, Russia included, politics is going to play a large part. This case is going to be 10% legal and 90% politics,” he said.
The handy flight tracker shows Snowden's plane is within reach of Moscow. It should land in about 45 minutes or so. But of course, if he is visa-less and awaiting an onward flight to Havana the 30-year-old will then be a little more visible than he is currently on the plane.
Reuters is quoting a source at Aeroflot saying Snowden is, as predicted, booked on a Moscow to Havana flight on Monday, and "plans to go to Venezuela".
Mr Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who exposed evidence of a global surveillance regime conducted by US and UK intelligence agencies, has left Hong Kong legally. He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.
Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed.
Assuming Assange's comments, below, are correct – and there is some evidence pointing to a WikiLeaks involvement – then talk of a "democratic country" would appear to lean more towards Venezuela as an eventual destination rather than Cuba. But it's fair to say we simply don't know yet.
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been speaking about Snowden's departure from his own exile, inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Assange said WikiLeaks had arranged Snowden's passage to a "democratic country" that he refused to name. He said:
He is expected to land in Moscow at 5pm, local time and will be met by diplomats from the country that will be his ultimate destination. Diplomats from that country will accompany him on a further flight to his destination...
Owing to WikiLeaks' own circumstances, we have developed significant expertise in international asylum and extradition law, associated diplomacy and the practicalities in these matters.
I have great personal sympathy for Ed Snowden's position. WikiLeaks absolutely supports his decision to blow the whistle on the mass surveillance of the world's population by the US government.
It's worth noting that the Moscow-based English language news channel Russia Today has been claiming for the past hour that Snowden is already in Moscow. It appears to be alone in saying this.
The Moscow correspondent for ABC News makes this interesting point. It was sent after ABC said it had confirmed Snowden and WikiLeaks staffer Sarah Harrison were booked on an Aeroflot flight to Cuba on Monday.
Remember, "booked" doesnt nec mean "traveling." #Snowden needed connecting flight to reach #Russia w/o visa. Could request asylum on arrival
Tania Branigan has been speaking to another politician in Hong Kong, who says Snowden's departure has a lot to recommend it for both the territory and Beijing:
Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a barrister and legislator for the pro-democracy Civic Party, said: “From Beijing’s point of view it is probably the most acceptable solution. If Beijing was to refuse to surrender Snowden that might harm Sino-US relations. On the other hand, if Beijing was to allow Snowden to surrender, it might well be subject to criticism both here in Hong Kong and in European countries making noises about the conduct of the US. The additional issue is that if it was put through the judicial process, it would be difficult to predict the outcome.”
Hong Kong is part of China but governed under the “one country, two systems” framework, which gives it considerable autonomy but makes it clear that Beijing has authority on matters of foreign relations.
The statement on Snowden’s departure came from the Hong Kong government and Tong said he doubted Beijing would want to be publicly involved, adding: “It’s far better to stay behind the scenes and allow Hong Kong to appear to be dealing with it.”
The New York Times has an interesting quote from the veteran Hong Kong politician Regina Ip, arguing that by letting Snowden slip out the territory's government has saved itself a long and difficult debate on whether to extradite him:
I think your (the US) government will be upset for a while, but I hope that they will shrug it off, because our government acted in accordance with the law. Our government officials can breathe a sigh of relief.
As an indicator of Beijing's possible attitude to the decision of Hong Kong in allowing Snowden to leave, this commentary piece today from the official Xinhua news agency is interesting. It talks of Snowden's latest revelations of US hacking against China as "clearly troubling", adding:
They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age.
At the moment, Washington is busy with a legal process of extraditing whistleblower Snowden.
But for other countries, Washington should come clean about its record first. It owes too an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on. It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs.
As a reminder of the issues at stake here, this is Edward Snowden's video interview with the Guardian from earlier this month in which he describes the motivations for his actions.
Miriam Elder notes that some Russian MPs have been taking to Twitter to call on their government to offer Snowden asylum:
Alexey Pushkov, the head of the Duma’s international affairs committee said: “It’s already being said that an offer of asylum to Snowden from us would be ‘a Cold War act’. But spying in wigs is the norm, so asylum isn’t an act,” he said referring to the Kremlin’s recent expulsion of a suspected US spy.
Robert Shlegel, another MP, tweeted: “Mr. Snowden stay in Russia!” with a smiley face emoticon. He later added: “If Snowden will be in transit in Russia for nearly 24h it would be right to offer him political asylum during that time.”
For weeks only a handful of people have known Edward Snowden's location. For the next three hours at least we all do – you can follow the progress of Aeroflot SU213 live, via this website. He's just passed slightly north of Omsk.
Barrister Robert Tibbo and solicitor Jonathan Man have just said they have been acting for Snowden during his stay in Hong Kong. Tibbo confirmed: "He departed Hong Kong through legal means, through immigration channels. We have no comment on his specific departure details at this time."
It's possible Cuba could also be a staging point, according to Russian news agencies.
While both Interfax and Itar-Tass are now saying Snowden is booked on a Monday flight from Moscow to Havana, the latter is also citing an unnamed source as saying the American will then go on from Havana to Caracas in Venezuela.
If Snowden does end up in Cuba he will, of course, be in a deeply paradoxical position for a whistleblower and advocate of open information. Cuba maintains significant repression against independent journalists, along with government opponents and right activists. It's also not at all that keen on free internet access. Here's what the Amnesty International 2013 report has to say:
Peaceful demonstrators, independent journalists and human rights activists were routinely detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Many were detained and others were subjected to acts of repudiation by government supporters...
The authorities adopted a range of measures to prevent activists reporting on human rights including surrounding the homes of activists and disconnecting phones. Organisations whose activities had been tolerated by the authorities in the past, such as the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, were targeted. Independent journalists reporting on dissidents’ activities were detained.
The government continued to exert control over all media, while access to information on the internet remained challenging due to technical limitations and restrictions on content.
Simon Young, director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, described the news of Snowden's departure as "a shocker". He said: "The US government will be irate with their Hong Kong counterparts [and] may even question whether the Hong Kong government was acting in good faith pursuant to their treaty obligations. I have no doubt that they were, and it is quite common for government lawyers to seek more information on surrender or mutual legal assistance requests before local process can begin.
"But I'm surprised here. Under the Foreign Offenders Ordinance, it is a very low threshold test to get the provisional warrant in place. Only two requirements are needed; evidence that the person is in HK (no doubt here) and that the person is wanted for prosecution in the US (again, another no brainer). The US government will wonder why the Hong Kong government feels the surrender paperwork needs to be fully in place before the provisional warrant can be obtained."
He added: "It's no surprise that Snowden left. His situation would have changed drastically with the issue of the warrant. From his 'safe place' he would have been detained in prison awaiting the completion of both his surrender and asylum proceedings. That would have been a harsh existence if he was to fight it out and [with] no certainty that he would not be surrendered."
Amid the fast-moving speculation about Snowden's eventual destination, it's worth considering again the decision of Hong Kong's government to let the whistleblower go despite the US formally requesting his arrest.
Since Snowden announced his presence in Hong Kong there has been lengthy speculation about whether the Chinese territory would simply bow to American demands. It did not: Hong Kong officials decreed the US request did not contain enough information, and thus Snowden could leave freely. That's a fairly significant step by the former British colony, and will annoy Washington.
Going back to our 10.18am update, which said Snowden was travelling with someone called Harrison, it's worth noting that WikiLeaks has a staff member called Sarah Harrison. This would tie in with the WikiLeaks tweets.
Interfax, the Russian news agency, is saying Snowden is set to fly on to Cuba. It's citing Aeroflot sources as saying there is a ticket in the American's name for a Moscow to Cuba flight, Reuters reports.
Today's South China Morning Post also has further revelations from Snowden about what he describes as large scale US espionage and data-gathering operations against mainland China. The allegations include:
Extensive hacking into private phone text messages in China.
Attacks on the main servers at China's prestigious Tsinghua University.
The New York Times has managed to speak to an Aeroflot reservations agent who said Snowden's ticket to Moscow was one-way and didn't include any onward travel. Snowden was travelling with one other person, called Harrison, the agent said.
So now to the unanswered question: where from Moscow? The South China Morning Post is very confident Snowden is heading to another destination. The obvious initial bet would be Iceland, which has reportedly already received an informal approach as to whether it would accept an asylum application from him.
This is the full Hong Kong government statement on Snowden's departure. HKSAR stands for Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region, the territory's somewhat cumbersome official name.
The HKSAR Government today (June 23) issued the following statement on Mr Edward Snowden:
Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.
The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions. As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.
The HKSAR Government has already informed the US Government of Mr Snowden's departure.
Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the US Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.
Snowden faces espionage charges in connection with the revelations he passed to the Guardian based on his work as a contractor with the US National Security Agency (NSA). He is charged with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorised person, according to court documents.
So why was he able to leave Hong Kong? Seemingly because the US arrest documents were not detailed enough for the Chinese territory.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement on Sunday that while US authorities issued a provisional arrest warrant against Snowden, the documents "did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law". Hong Kong's government asked the US for more information, but before that happened there was no legal reason to stop Snowden leaving the territory.
Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong: the NSA whistleblower, now sought by US authorities on espionage charges, departed the Chinese territory by commercial airliner on Sunday morning local time and is en route to Moscow, the South China Morning Post reported.
Russia will not be his eventual destination, the report said, though it is not known where Snowden will eventually end up. The paper quoted Hong Kong's government as saying the 30-year-old left "of his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel".
Snowden is reported to be on Aeroflot flight SU23, scheduled to arrive in Moscow at 5.15pm local time (2.15pm BST).
