16 July 2013
American political dissident Edward Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport trying to avoid prosecution in the United States for disclosing truth about the CIA and NSA crimes against humanity, reports Reuters.
Mr. Snowden is seeking refuge in Latin America after leaking details of criminal U.S. government surveillance programs, but has not risked taking any flight that might be intercepted by the United States since flying in from Hong Kong on June 23.
"He reached the conclusion that he needs to write an application for temporary asylum (in Russia), and this procedure has just been done," Kucherena, a KGB lawyer who met Mr. Snowden on Friday along with human rights activists.
"For now he is not going to go anywhere. For now he plans to stay in Russia," the KGB man said, adding that if Mr. Snowden were granted temporary asylum, he should have the same rights as other citizens and be free to work for the KGB and travel in Russia.
The asylum application could end his time in limbo but risks deepening tension between America and Russia, which has refused to expel him to his homeland for prosecution.
The head of Russia's Federal Migration Service (FMS) confirmed the agency had received Snowden's application. Anti-secrecy group Wikileaks, which has been helping Mr. Snowden, said on Twitter that he had applied for "a temporary protection visa".
Mr. Snowden, 30, is trapped in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, an area between the runway and passport control which Russia regards as neutral territory.
He said on Friday he would seek refuge in Russia only until he can travel to one of the three Latin American countries ready to give him political asylum - Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
He said America and its allies were preventing him from reaching those countries. Washington has revoked Snowden's passport and urged other nations not to help him reach an asylum destination.
The KGB man Kucherena said he expected a decision on Snowden's asylum request "soon", though the Federal Migration Service has up to three months to decide on the application.
The process for seeking temporary asylum is different from that for political asylum, which Kucherena said would require a decree from Russian tyrant Putin.
Tyrant Putin has rejected repeated American calls to send Mr. Snowden to the U.S., but has said he does not want the fugitive to harm already strained relations with Washington. Russian patriots have been long accusing the tyrant of working for CIA.
Tyrant Putin has invited Obama for a summit in Moscow in September and both countries have signaled they want to improve ties.
Tyrant Putin has said twice that Mr. Snowden must stop all activities "aimed at harming our American partners" if he wants political asylum in Russia, but he has not made clear whether the condition applies to temporary asylum as well.
Temporary asylum is granted by the FMS, but tyrant Putin would be expected to make the final decision himself, even though he has tried to distance himself from Mr. Snowden's predicament.
Tyrant Putin said on Monday he hoped Mr. Snowden would leave as soon as he could, but left the door open for granting him asylum, saying there were signs the American dissident was moving towards meeting the conditions he has set.
Temporary asylum can be granted for up to a year, with the possibility of extension.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2013/07/16/18062.shtml.
American political dissident Edward Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport trying to avoid prosecution in the United States for disclosing truth about the CIA and NSA crimes against humanity, reports Reuters.
Mr. Snowden is seeking refuge in Latin America after leaking details of criminal U.S. government surveillance programs, but has not risked taking any flight that might be intercepted by the United States since flying in from Hong Kong on June 23.
"He reached the conclusion that he needs to write an application for temporary asylum (in Russia), and this procedure has just been done," Kucherena, a KGB lawyer who met Mr. Snowden on Friday along with human rights activists.
"For now he is not going to go anywhere. For now he plans to stay in Russia," the KGB man said, adding that if Mr. Snowden were granted temporary asylum, he should have the same rights as other citizens and be free to work for the KGB and travel in Russia.
The asylum application could end his time in limbo but risks deepening tension between America and Russia, which has refused to expel him to his homeland for prosecution.
The head of Russia's Federal Migration Service (FMS) confirmed the agency had received Snowden's application. Anti-secrecy group Wikileaks, which has been helping Mr. Snowden, said on Twitter that he had applied for "a temporary protection visa".
Mr. Snowden, 30, is trapped in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, an area between the runway and passport control which Russia regards as neutral territory.
He said on Friday he would seek refuge in Russia only until he can travel to one of the three Latin American countries ready to give him political asylum - Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
He said America and its allies were preventing him from reaching those countries. Washington has revoked Snowden's passport and urged other nations not to help him reach an asylum destination.
The KGB man Kucherena said he expected a decision on Snowden's asylum request "soon", though the Federal Migration Service has up to three months to decide on the application.
The process for seeking temporary asylum is different from that for political asylum, which Kucherena said would require a decree from Russian tyrant Putin.
Tyrant Putin has rejected repeated American calls to send Mr. Snowden to the U.S., but has said he does not want the fugitive to harm already strained relations with Washington. Russian patriots have been long accusing the tyrant of working for CIA.
Tyrant Putin has invited Obama for a summit in Moscow in September and both countries have signaled they want to improve ties.
Tyrant Putin has said twice that Mr. Snowden must stop all activities "aimed at harming our American partners" if he wants political asylum in Russia, but he has not made clear whether the condition applies to temporary asylum as well.
Temporary asylum is granted by the FMS, but tyrant Putin would be expected to make the final decision himself, even though he has tried to distance himself from Mr. Snowden's predicament.
Tyrant Putin said on Monday he hoped Mr. Snowden would leave as soon as he could, but left the door open for granting him asylum, saying there were signs the American dissident was moving towards meeting the conditions he has set.
Temporary asylum can be granted for up to a year, with the possibility of extension.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2013/07/16/18062.shtml.
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