Latin American countries most likely to grant Snowden asylum: lawyer
Staff Reporter 2013-07-05 12:13
Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport. (File photo/CFP)
US whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in 21 countries but the Netherlands, Spain and Ecuador have already turned down his application. Meanwhile Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, called on Snowden, who is currently staying in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, to find another country to seek refuge in, as he is damaging relations between Russia and the US, according to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
The former NSA contractor has withdrawn his application to Russia, with the Netherlands and Spain saying that Snowden is not eligible for asylum since their laws specify that applicants must first be in the country, according to the BBC and China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Many have also begun to debate whether Snowden can be considered as a political refugee. Japp de Hoop Scheffer, professor at the Leiden University in the Netherlands, said the former contractor violated US law so he cannot be considered a political refugee but an asylum lawyer surnamed Berg said Snowden's case involves a political component and he should not be extradited if he did make it into the Netherlands, according to Xinhua.
Xing Gang, an international law expert, said Snowden's chances of obtaining asylum are slim as not many countries would willingly damage their relationship with the US. Snowden has been charged by US authorities for leaking documents detailing a wide-scale internet and phone surveillance program operated by the US National Security Agency.
The US government had attempted to extradite Snowden from Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding since fleeing Hawaii on May 20. The former NSA contractor has been stuck at the transit area of Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow over the past eleven days. He was en route to Ecuador, which had granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its London embassy.
Russia said it would not extradite Snowden since he could face capital punishment in the US but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the country would only grant him asylum if he stops his "anti-US policy."
Western countries are unlikely to grant Snowden asylum either since the spying scandal has increased tension between them and the US. Whereas Latin American countries are more likely to accept the fugitive, said Xing.
If one of the countries granted Snowden asylum, it must willing and prepared to defy Washington, said Yang Chengming, an international law professor with Beijing Institute of Technology. Theoretically, Snowden can stay at the Russian airport as long as he does not violate any laws. However, how long Snowden can stay still depends on Moscow.
Multiple US officials have complained about the whistleblower to Russia and hinted that it may affect US-Russia cooperation. Moscow is likely to resolve the issue as soon as possible, said Xing.
