Category Archives: Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden in Russia

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MOSCOW, July 31 ( RIA Novosti) - A year ago, former CIA employee Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia.

In early June 2013, ex-CIA employee//NSA contractor Snowden leaked details of mass surveillance programs that the US secret services carry out around the world.

US officials charged Snowden with three crimes, each punishable by 10 years in prison. He is accused of unauthorized communication of national defense information, willful communication of classified intelligence to an unauthorized person and theft of government property.

Snowden flew from the US to Hong Kong and then arrived in Moscow on June 23, 2013. He could not leave the transit area of Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport as his US passport had been revoked.

On June 30, 2013, Wikileaks legal advisor Sarah Harrison handed over political asylum applications on behalf of Snowden to the consulate at Sheremetyevo Airport. The applications were addressed to 21 countries, including Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.

On July 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a condition by which Edward Snowden could stay in Russia. Putin requested that Snowden stop causing harm to the US.

On July 5, it was reported that Edward Snowden applied for asylum with six more countries.

On July 7, Foreign Minister of Venezuela Elas Jaua announced that Venezuelan officials had offered the ex-CIA employee on the run guarantees of asylum and were expecting a response. Bolivian President Evo Morales also expressed his willingness to accept Snowden in his country if the latter were to submit an official request. Nicaragua was the third country to offer help.

On July 11, Edward Snowden sent an email to foreign human rights organizations in Russia, the UN mission in Moscow and some prominent Russian lawyers inviting them to a meeting on July 12 in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. After the meeting it was announced that Snowden intended to apply for temporary political asylum in Russia.

On July 16, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena who consulted the former CIA employee announced that Snowden had submitted an official asylum request to a representative of the Russian Federal Migration Service. In his application, Snowden stated threats to his life as the reason for seeking asylum.

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Edward Snowden in Russia

Snowden Applies for Temporary Asylum in Russia

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MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) Fugitive NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied to have his temporary asylum in Russia extended for another year, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said Thursday.

Edward is still in Russia, we have recently prepared and submitted a package of documents to receive a temporary political asylum," LifeNews TV quoted the lawyer as saying.

Kucherena said Snowdens request should be resolved today or tomorrow." If this is issue not resolved, we will clear up the situation, the lawyer added.

As Edwards documents have been accepted, he must wait for a decision from the Federal Migration Service, his lawyer said.

Speaking on Snowdens life in Russia, Kucherena said this year has been very fruitful. This year, as he has been living in Russia, was useful for him as he learned about Russia and Russian culture. I think this year has been interesting and helpful for him, the lawyer said, adding that Snowden has started learning the Russian language. We already discuss some events in Russian, Kucherena said.

While his circumstances influence Snowdens everyday life due to security concerns, the lawyer said this does not mean that he cannot move freely. He can freely visit any Russian cities and show interest in culture and routine life, Kucherena said adding that Snowden has taken advantage of this.

REUTERS Courtesy of The Guardian/Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras

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Snowden Applies for Temporary Asylum in Russia

Snowden Leaks show New Zealand, NSA Spied on Underwater Cables

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TIME World New Zealand Snowden: NSA Collected Data on New Zealand Citizens Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Internet Party leader Laila Harre, Robert Amsterdam, Glenn Greenwald and Kim Dotcom discuss the revelations about New Zealand's mass surveillance at Auckland Town Hall in Auckland, New Zealand on Sept. 15, 2014. Hannah PetersGetty Images New Zealand prime minister denies his government helped U.S. collect data on private citizens by gaining access to undersea cables

Documents released by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden purport to show U.S. and New Zealand officials have collected Internet data via underwater cables that connect New Zealand, Australia and North America.

The documents, reported by The Intercept and the Sydney Morning Herald, are said to show the program, called Speargun, had initially been implemented in 2012 or early 2013 by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand.

The GCSB was alleged to have gained covert access to a Trans-Pacific undersea cable network through which data is transmitted between Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii, to allow the NSA to harvest data.

Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key denies that the GCSB has participated in mass surveillance of citizens, though he reportedly would not discuss the existence of the program New Zealand reportedly used to conduct surveillance.

Snowden said in an interview with The Intercept website, which first reported the programs existence, that the Prime Minister was fully aware of the program. The Prime Ministers claim to the public, that there is no and there never has been any mass surveillance, is false, Snowden said. The GCSB, whose operations he is responsible for, is directly involved in the untargeted, bulk interception and algorithmic analysis of private communications sent via internet, satellite, radio, and phone networks.

[Sydney Morning Herald]

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Snowden Leaks show New Zealand, NSA Spied on Underwater Cables

Snowden claims US spy sensor ‘in NZ’

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Stuff.co.nz

Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom has revealed his 'Moment of Truth' with guests Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Glenn Greenwald.

Edward Snowden claims there is a US National Security Agency facility in Auckland and in the north of New Zealand.

The former US contractor-turned-fugitive whistleblower was beamed into the Auckland Town Hall from Russia for Kim Dotcom's "Moment of Truth" event.

As an NSA infrastructure analyst he "realised the absolute scale of how deep this went."

Hours beforehand, in a report on the website of journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden claimed that while working for the US NSA he "routinely" came across the communications of New Zealanders while working in the XKeyscore mass surveillance tool.

"It allows total, granular access to the database of communications collected in the course of mass surveillance. It is not limited to or even used largely for the purposes of cybersecurity, as has been claimed, but is instead used primarily for reading individuals private email, text messages, and internet traffic," he wrote.

A network of sensors placed around the world would allow him to search on an email address. One of those sensors is in New Zealand.

Snowden said X-Keyscore is collecting the communications of people in New Zealand and it is not related to foreign intelligence.

Snowden said that within the Five Eyes intelligence network, New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)contributes to the collection of communications.

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Snowden claims US spy sensor 'in NZ'

Switzerland Says It Would Shield Snowden From ‘Political’ Extradition To US

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(Reuters) - Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden could be granted safe passage in Switzerland if he helped a potential criminal inquiry into U.S. spying there, the Swiss public prosecutor's office said on Monday.

He would probably not be extradited to the United States if Washington asked, but it was also unlikely that he would be granted political asylum, according to a document laying out Switzerland's legal options if Snowden were to visit.

The prosecutor's office, which provided the document to Reuters, stressed the issue was "purely hypothetical" because Snowden had not been invited to come from his current refuge in Russia. It had no further comment.

The document was leaked last week and prompted a lively debate in the Swiss media.

Some German politicians have suggested inviting Snowden to Germany to testify about National Security Agency spying there, but Berlin has ruled that out to avoid a clash with Washington over extraditing him to the United States.

Michael McCaul, Republican head of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, reacted to the Swiss debate by telling the U.S.-based Foreign Policy magazine that Snowden should not be allowed to "trade our intelligence community's sources and methods for safe haven in other countries".

GENEVA CIA ACTIVITIES

According to the three-page Swiss document, "Edward Snowden could be assured of free movement by the federal prosecutor if he cooperated with a criminal investigation" into U.S. spy activities he says he learned about while working in Geneva.

Switzerland would not comply with a U.S. extradition request if he is accused of treason or divulging state secrets because such charges would have a "political character" under Swiss law, the document said.

The guarantee for Snowden's free passage in Switzerland could be trumped by "higher state obligations" such as a treaty, the document said, adding this required more study.

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Switzerland Says It Would Shield Snowden From 'Political' Extradition To US