Snowden seeks asylum in Moscow, Putin: "Stop anti-U.S. activities"
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has, for the first time, mentioned the possibility that the Datagate mole, Edward Snowden, could remain in Russia, where he has been stuck at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since June 23, after the U.S. revoked his passport. Putin's words came a few hours after the request for political asylum filed by former CIA employee in fifteen countries, including the Russian Federation.
Reports regarding this latest news however are confused and contradictory. The first to speak of the request for asylum in Moscow was the New York Times, citing unnamed sources from the immigration service, according to whom his lawyer, Sara Harrison of the Wikileaks legal team, who is accompanying him in his escape, has helped the American computer expert lodge the requests.
The Immigration Service authorities have described the revelations of the U.S. newspaper as "untrue", but they were followed a few minutes later by the Interfax news agency citing Kim Shevcenko, the Russian consul in charge at the airport Sheremetyevo airport: "On June 30, at 22.30 a British citizen, Sara Harrison, contacted the consular station of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and presented herself as a lawyer and representative of the American citizen Snowden. She delivered a request for political asylum by Snowden" . The diplomat said then that Harriosn did not reveal where her client is. While waiting, for what at first seemed to be a sure welcome from Ecuador - withdrawn under pressure from Washington - the National Security Agency (NSA) 'mole' is reportedly closed in the hotel in the 'airport transit area, not having the necessary documents to cross the Russian border, or to buy the plane ticket to a new destination.
The U.S. has called
for his extradition, but an agreement to this effect was never signed with
Moscow, nor is there an arrest warrant issued by Interpol. "We do not extradite
people, nor do we intend to do," assured the leader of the Kremlin on July
1 at a press conference. He added that if Snowden wanted to stay in Russia, he
must "cease his work to harm our American partners, no matter how strange
this sounds coming from me." The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov,
declined to comment on the request for asylum.
Putin, however, has left a margin of uncertainty about the future of the
fugitive: "Because he claims he is an activist for human rights, he is
probably not going to stop his work, so he has to choose a country and go
there. Unfortunately I do not know when this will happen. " The president
has finally confirmed that Snowden "is not a Russian agent, never has been
and is not today. Our intelligence services have never worked with him and they
are not working with him now." It is difficult, however, to believe that
in exchange for aid in his escape Snowden has not passed sensitive information
to Moscow.
The Los Angeles
Times, citing sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry, called the request
for asylum in Russia a "desperate move" by the former NSA technician,
after the "no" received from Quito. Wanted for espionage by the U.S.,
the young man has applied for asylum in 19 countries in total, handing the list
to Moscow.
According to the director of the Carnegie Center in Moscow, Dmitri Trenin, the
developments of the story are predictable. "Arriving in Sheremetyevo
airport, Snowden has in fact found himself in a dead end. The evolution of the
case shows that today the only country in the world that is willing to enter
into conflict with the U.S. over the fate of an American fugitive is
Russia", the expert told the Kommersant newspaper, saying he was convinced
that the whole affair does not threaten a significant deterioration in
Russian-American relations. (N.A.)
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29/10/2019 08:45
14/08/2020 12:13
