Whistleblower escapes from Hong Kong to Moscow on a commercial flight despite a formal US extradition request.
Edward Snowden, aged 29, escaped Hong Kong from being captured by the US for leaking the NSA documents. In a move that appeared to bewilder the White House, Snowden was allowed to flee Hong Kong on Sunday morning and head to Moscow on a commercial flight despite a formal request from the US to have the 29-year-old detained and extradited to face espionage charges for a series of leaks about the National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s spy centre, GCHQ.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the US extradites him, Snowden has applied for political asylum in more than a dozen countries. Out of all those countries he has applied to, three of them have gladly accepted and offered Mr. Snowden asylum with warm hands.
One of the countries the whistleblower applied for asylum was India. It emerged that the Indian government snubbed and declined Snowden’s asylum application. India says it “sees no reason to accept Snowden’s asylum request”, the Indian government said.
However, a solidarity gathering was organised in India’s Capital demanding political asylum for him in India. Ravi Nitesh, founding member of the group which organised the solidarity meeting said, “It is our duty to defend Snowden as he has exposed the truth of US intelligence system. What the USA had been doing was unethical and illegal. Snowden did the right thing. Besides India was also one of the targets of the US intelligence system. Thus, it is also our duty to defend him.”
Edward Snowden has been staying at an airport in Moscow, Russia for 14 days now – trying to escape the US authorities from being captured.
So, the question still remains. Is the whistleblower, Edward Snowden a hero or a traitor? That debate is still raging amongst various people.
By Tim Katoga
