Edward Snowden 'would love' to get political asylum in France

[brooklynite]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Politico

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who was behind one of the largest intelligence leaks in U.S. history, told France Inter radio that he’d be happy to leave Russia and move to France.

“I applied for asylum in France in 2013 under [former French President François] Hollande and of course we would love to see [Emmanuel] Macron roll out an invitation,” he said.

Snowden is promoting his new book — “Permanent Record” — in media interviews and his interview to France Inter came a day after French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet told RTL she would be “in favor” of offering asylum to the whistleblower.

But Belloubet so far seems to stand alone within the French government.

Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/edward-snowden-would-love-to-get-political-asylum-in-france/

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Those Russian winters can kill you...

[BeyondGeography]

1. Il ne vaut pas la peine

You're not worth the trouble, Ed. But nice upgrade strategy,

[padah513]

2. Had he gone anywhere else i could give him the benefit of the doubt

But to run off to Russia with a boatload of information and stay there for years? No way.

[Hekate]

14. He made a little stopoff in China along the way, and they are world experts at siphoning info...

...out of people's personal electronics very rapidly.

Maybe he can move into Assange's old digs at the Ecuadorian Embassy.

[Turbineguy]

4. For one,

the food is better.

[manhattan123]

5. Me too...

...if the dotard gets elected in 2020.

[fleur-de-lisa]

6. I bet Eddie would love it.

Too bad he stole government property and fled to our worst enemy. Fuck that guy. Let him rot in Russia forever.

[bluemaxx]

7. I'm rootin' for Eddie

I hope he gets asylum, I think he's a hero!

[ismnotwasm]

10. Really.

[Hekate]

11. Interesting. This is your first contribution since 2008?

Have we met before?

[hack89]

8. There is a Paris in Texas... nt

[Jose Garcia]

9. A person can only eat so much borscht

[Hekate]

12. So is the dear boy rethinking the oppressiveness of the US versus the oppressiveness of Russia?

Careful what you say, Ed. If you get too distraught you might jump out of a second-story window headfirst.

Also, doesn't France extradite criminals back to the US?

[dalton99a]

15. France will extradite foreigners. However:

The extradition process is notoriously arduous in France. Consider the Roman Polanski saga: Mr. Polanski, the famous film director whose credits include “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” fled the US in 1977 after pleading guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year old girl. The French-Polish national has since been residing in France. He last made headlines when Swiss authorities briefly put him under house arrest in 2010 while traveling to accept a film award there. They considered extraditing him, however, released him soon after. He then returned to France.

Polanski’s case is a bit different from Snowden’s. Polanski is a French citizen, Snowden is a US citizen. France and the US do have an extradition treaty, and it is Polanski’s French citizenship that seems to be the only thing keeping him secure (France does not extradite its own citizens).

But Snowden may still have a chance, or at least buy some time in France. It took 25 years for US citizen Ira Einhorn’s eventual extradition in 2001, following the murder of his girlfriend.

And if he can prove imprisonment in the US would seriously compromise his health, Snowden might be set here. This route has been taken before, most recently in February 2013, when a French court denied the extradition of Michael and Linda Mastro unless US authorities promised not to imprison them, as their doctors said they suffered from health problems.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

18. The French DO NOT extradite their own citizens,

which is why Roman Polanski is still there.

But they could extradite Snowden, unless he is granted the asylum he seeks. However, if I were him, I'd be worried about being kidnapped.

[Hortensis]

13. Snowden says he has to hide in Russia from American agents

seeking to kidnap him. Also that he really wants to return to the U.S. but won't get a fair trial. If he thought that was true under Obama, surely he must fear more now? So he'd best stay there until he feels he can get a fair trial. At least for his own peace of mind.

For my own, I don't want Trump undoing Obama's decision that a trial must precede any consideration of a pardon.

Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo, whom Trump has selected to run the CIA, has called Snowden a "traitor" and said that he should be executed.

[treestar]

16. Wonder what would the Dotard think of this guy?

When he finds out about him. They are both sort of pro-Russia.

[Hortensis]

17. Yes, and Putin. Pardon would be just another way

of spitting in Obama's and our justice system's eyes, which I imagine they'd both like.

[Omaha Steve]

19. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

NOT important news.