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Published on Jul 12, 2013
Edward Snowden exposes the US in more ways than one !!
Edward Snowden appears at Moscow airport and renews asylum claim.Edward Snowden along with Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks at a meeting with human rights campaigners in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow today.
Snowden's airport appearance. "Friday's proceedings left little doubt that the Russian authorities were actively involved in Snowden's stay," Alec writes:
[Russian MP Vyacheslav] Nikonov said he had asked Snowden how he was enjoying his time in Russia. "He laughed -- and said, it's safe here," Nikonov said.
Nikonov and other attendees, including Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch and Sergei Nikitin of Amnesty International, were swarmed by journalists as they arrived at Sheremetyevo late on Friday afternoon.
Camera- and mic boom-wielding correspondents mobbed each of the invitees in turn as they made their way toward an airport employee holding a sign reading "G9", previously identified in Snowden's invitation email as the marker that would lead them to Snowden.
The horde followed the airport employee upstairs, with journalists running up downward escalators to get ahead, and the invitees were ushered through a service door guarded by policemen and into a hallway with a metal detector. Lokshina later said that they did not undergo any security checks and were only asked to not record video of the event.
The atmosphere was tense as journalists crowded to get footage and quotes after the activists emerged from the 45 minute long meeting. At least one fistfight erupted between two cameramen who punched each other in the ribs.
live updates
• NSA whistleblower meets human rights groups
• US accuses Russia of providing 'propaganda platform'
• Renews Russia asylum claim in tactic to leave Moscow
• Calls on international groups to offer protection
• Media scrum at Sheremetyevo airport for meeting
Friday's proceedings left little doubt that the Russian authorities were actively involved in Snowden's stay at Sheremetyevo. Airport employees organised and conducted the event, and order was kept by a small cadre of policemen. Attendees said the meeting was watched over by men in suits, whom Nikitin of Amnesty International said looked like government operatives.
"I'm no expert, but if a man in a tie is standing there with a military bearing and a serviceman's expression, who is he, a school teacher?" Nikitin said.
Nikonov, the Kremlin-friendly MP, agreed: "I think that he has guards, given the circumstances."
Russia has denied any involvement in Snowden's flight and continues to insist that he is not on Russian territory since he has not crossed the border at Sheremetyevo. Snowden stressed in his statement on Friday that he "did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee by safety".
"Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice," he said.
Attendees said that Snowden looked mentally and physically healthy, despite weeks in the halls of Sheremetyevo. "He smiled, he looked confident, he looked like he believes he's in the right," Nikonov said. "I can't say he impressed me as a well-fed young man, but he's never been very bulky. And he has a great haircut. He didn't joke, because he understands the seriousness of the situation."
Nikitin added: "He didn't look scared, he looked cheerful...He smiled at my jokes, and although his face looked a little pale, you can understand why if a person is located the whole time within four walls."
Some attendees said Snowden appeared desperate to get out of the airport. "I got the feeling that after all this, he just wants to physically get out of these premises, and this is the only way to get out of them," Nikitin said.
Snowden renews plea for Russian asylum
'I have been made stateless ... for my act of political expression,' says NSA leaker stuck at Moscow airport
CBC News
Posted: Jul 12, 2013 7:03 AM ETLast Updated: Jul 12, 2013 8:03 PM ET
National
Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden met with human rights groups
Friday and said he plans to seek asylum in Russia until he gets
clearance to travel to Latin American countries that have offered him
asylum. Snowden is wanted on espionage charges for divulging details of
secret U.S. surveillance programs. (Human Rights Watch)Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden said today he would submit a request for asylum to Russia, where he plans to stay until he can travel to Latin American countries to weigh asylum offers.
"I announced today my formal acceptance of all offers of support or asylum I have been extended and all others that may be offered in the future," Snowden said in a statement to human rights activists whom he had invited for a closed-door meeting at Moscow's airport, according to a transcript of his remarks that was posted on WikiLeaks.
Snowden asked the activists gathered at Sheremetyevo airport for assistance in securing his asylum in Russia until he is able to travel. Placed on no-fly lists by Washington, Snowden said the U.S. is aiming to make an example of him, "a warning to all others who might speak out as I have.
"I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression."
In a phone conversation Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama raised concerns directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's handling of the former U.S. spy agency contractor.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier that conversation would largely be about Snowden, who is wanted in the United States for disclosing state secrets. A White House statement about the Obama-Putin call made no mention of sending Snowden back to the U.S.
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