Edward Snowden never crossed border into Russia / won't extradite him for the US

[Catherina]

Last edited Tue Jun 25, 2013, 12:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Edward Snowden never crossed border into Russia, says foreign minister
Sergei Lavrov's comments about fugitive US whistleblower deepen mystery surrounding his whereabouts

Miriam Elder in Moscow
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 June 2013 11.17 BST


Edward Snowden's face is depicted by street artist Eclair Acuda Bandersnatch in San Francisco. Photograph: Steve Rhodes/Demotix/Corbis

Russia's foreign minister has said the surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden never crossed the border into Russia, deepening the mystery over his suspected flight from Hong Kong.

"I would like to say right away that we have no relation to either Mr Snowden or to his relationship with American justice or to his movements around the world," Sergei Lavrov said.

"He chose his route on his own, and we found out about it, as most here did, from mass media," he said during a joint press conference with Algeria's foreign minister. "He did not cross the Russian border."

...

Russian news agencies, citing anonymous sources, reported that Snowden had arrived in Moscow on Sunday evening and met Ecuadorean diplomats at Sheremetyevo airport while awaiting a Monday afternoon flight to Havana, from where he would travel to Venezuela. Snowden did not show up for the flight.

...

Lavrov lashed out angrily at suggestions that Russia was involved. "We consider the attempts we are now seeing to blame the Russian side for breaking US laws and being almost in on the plot totally baseless and unacceptable, and even an attempt to threaten us," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-never-crossed-russia-border

[hobbit709]

1. He's here, he's there, he's everywhere. It's the Scarlet Pumpernickel.

[Catherina]

2. Twitter is laughing its head off. Where did they get he went to Russia anyway?

Wikileaks? Or when he left?

[In_The_Wind]

3. .

[Catherina]

4. Yep, that's about it lol n/t

[In_The_Wind]

5. Everyone wants some of the Snowden action.

[img][/img]

[Catherina]

6. "at the end of the day, they do tell the truth and are sticklers for following the letter of the law

Lavrov, and Russian officials in general, are good with wordplay, but at the end of the day, they do tell the truth and are sticklers for following the letter of the law. It just means you have to read their words carefully.

When Lavrov goes around repeatedly saying that Russia is not selling S-300 weapons systems to Syria, it’s technically true – they’re not selling new ones, but fulfilling rolling orders concluded in the past.

So now everyone is trying to pick apart what Lavrov meant when he said that Snowden “did not cross the Russian border”. Was he whisked away from the Hong Kong-Moscow flight to another plane, without going through passport control before getting to the transit area? Was the black car on the tarmac spotted by passengers a diplomatic vehicle waiting to take him to an embassy?

Lavrov didn’t say “Snowden is not in Russia and has never been in Russia”. Until he says that, we will be trying to figure out exactly what he meant.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-russia#block-51c9aa8fe4b02b0cde1811b8

[Catherina]

7. Putin confirms that Snowden is at the airport. Nobody is going to detain him in Moscow.

Vladimir Putin: Edward Snowden is a transit passenger and can fly out of Moscow to wherever he wants

Vladimir Putin arrived in Finland for a working visit where he held talks with President Sauli Niyniste. The two leaders discussed economic cooperation and the situation in Syria. And business representatives of the two countries signed a number of documents. Asked by reporters about Edward Snowden, Putin said that nobody is going to detain the American in the capital of Russia.

Speaking of Snowden, the Russian president said that the former CIA agent is located in the transit area of ​​the "Sheremetyevo" airport and is free to continue on his previously planned route. Putin expressed the hope that Snowden would not cause a deterioration of relations between Moscow and Washington.

http://russian.rt.com/article/11291

[Catherina]

8. Putin: Russia doesn't have an extradition agreement with the US & won't be meeting the US request

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Snowden will not be extradited to the United States, the AP reports:

Putin said that Snowden hasn't crossed the Russian border and is free to go anywhere.

Speaking on a visit to Finland Tuesday, he added that Russian security agencies "didn't work and aren't working" with Snowden. He gave no more details.

Commenting on a U.S. request to extradite him, Putin said that Russia doesn't have an extradition agreement with the U.S. and thus wouldn't meet the U.S. request.

He voiced hope that Snowden will depart as quickly as possible and that his stopover at Moscow's airport wouldn't affect bilateral ties.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-russia#block-51c9b36fe4b043643bdac402

[Catherina]

9. Putin: "human rights activists"... "(w)ould you hand these people over so they’ll be put in prison?”

Putin also appeared to throw his support behind Snowden as well as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, currently holed up at Ecuador’s embassy in London.

“Assange and Snowden consider themselves human rights activists and say they’re fighting for the spread of information,” Putin said. “Ask yourself this: should you hand these people over so they’ll be put in prison?”

“In any case, I’d rather not deal with such questions, because anyway it’s like shearing a pig – lots of screams but little wool,” he added, cryptically.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-russia#block-51c9bd7ae4b0fa4fdd460b65