Where Is Edward Snowden? Does He Support Russia's Ukraine Invasion?(ibtimes.sg)
ibtimes.sg
Where Is Edward Snowden? Does He Support Russia's Ukraine Invasion?
https://www.ibtimes.sg/where-edward-snowden-does-he-support-russias-ukraine-invasion-63290
12 comments
> Well, why would his opinion on a matter of military and international law even be relevant? More than any other person, I mean.
It doesn't matter in the general sense. It's just a clue about how principled he is -- something that is at the core of the debate about his extradition and prosecution.
If he is genuinely anti-fascist, as he has positioned himself, then he would be highly opposed to everything about Putin.
Unfortunately I suspect he isn't free to speak out against his protectors.
It doesn't matter in the general sense. It's just a clue about how principled he is -- something that is at the core of the debate about his extradition and prosecution.
If he is genuinely anti-fascist, as he has positioned himself, then he would be highly opposed to everything about Putin.
Unfortunately I suspect he isn't free to speak out against his protectors.
That would definitely be an awkward topic to address at a party. I can imagine some Russians coming up to Snowden and asking him how he feels about the Ukraine invasion. If he is like any other expat (or foreigner) in any other country not completely politically aligned with the USA, he would probably just chuckle and change the topic quickly (as I've done many times before while living in China).
> In October 2020, Snowden received permanent residency in Russia
In theory I think he's also eligible for Russian citizenship, so he could be issued a Russian passport (to replace his cancelled American one). That would allow him to travel to another country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
It's perhaps an interesting question to ask which country someone should move to if they want to avoid extradition to the US but also speak out on global conflicts and human rights issues. Possibly it would be simplest for him to move across the border to Georgia (which has visa-free travel with Russia, for up to a year), but that might not be the ideal location to criticise Putin from.
Another alternative would be to move to Indonesia (visa-free for 30 days), which is a G20 country[0] that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US[1] (others being China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia). I'm not sure whether the Indonesian government would feel comfortable granting him refugee status, but it might be relatively uncontroversial at this stage to grant him permanent residency.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G20_map.png
[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/United_S...
In theory I think he's also eligible for Russian citizenship, so he could be issued a Russian passport (to replace his cancelled American one). That would allow him to travel to another country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
It's perhaps an interesting question to ask which country someone should move to if they want to avoid extradition to the US but also speak out on global conflicts and human rights issues. Possibly it would be simplest for him to move across the border to Georgia (which has visa-free travel with Russia, for up to a year), but that might not be the ideal location to criticise Putin from.
Another alternative would be to move to Indonesia (visa-free for 30 days), which is a G20 country[0] that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US[1] (others being China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia). I'm not sure whether the Indonesian government would feel comfortable granting him refugee status, but it might be relatively uncontroversial at this stage to grant him permanent residency.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G20_map.png
[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/United_S...
Georgia is probably more interested in getting into EU and NATO vs sticking it to the man.
"No extradition treaty" doesn't necessarily guarantee "no extradition". The US has an enormous amount of power (both carrots and sticks) that could be used to convince a country to extradite Snowden.
I suspect the only places Snowden can avoid US prosecution are Russia, China, and North Korea. Any country with a friendly and/or economic relationship with the US has the potential to extradite him (or just look the other way as the CIA assassinates him).
I suspect the only places Snowden can avoid US prosecution are Russia, China, and North Korea. Any country with a friendly and/or economic relationship with the US has the potential to extradite him (or just look the other way as the CIA assassinates him).
> "No extradition treaty" doesn't necessarily guarantee "no extradition".
I must admit that's true. Case in point:
> Although Indonesia has no formal extradition treaty with the United States, the Indonesian National Police-Bali worked with the FBI to take Pearlman into custody, and the country expelled him as "an undesirable visitor," the FBI said.[0]
So he would have to secure his permanent residency in advance, and hope that no US administration would waste any carrots or sticks on capturing someone who would be viewed by many as a political prisoner.
[0] https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2007/06/15/pearlman-arreste...
I must admit that's true. Case in point:
> Although Indonesia has no formal extradition treaty with the United States, the Indonesian National Police-Bali worked with the FBI to take Pearlman into custody, and the country expelled him as "an undesirable visitor," the FBI said.[0]
So he would have to secure his permanent residency in advance, and hope that no US administration would waste any carrots or sticks on capturing someone who would be viewed by many as a political prisoner.
[0] https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2007/06/15/pearlman-arreste...
> I suspect the only places Snowden can avoid US prosecution are Russia, China, and North Korea
Those countries could still exert pressure: work for us, give us secrets, etc. or we’ll send you back.
He presumably could also be used as a bargaining chip in some other spy/business negotiations.
Those countries could still exert pressure: work for us, give us secrets, etc. or we’ll send you back.
He presumably could also be used as a bargaining chip in some other spy/business negotiations.
It's doubtful. Snowden's propaganda value is much higher while he's a political refugee and authentic anti-US influencer than a puppet. Coercion would be counter their interests.
Glenn Greenwald somewhat appears to support it https://greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-about-ukrain...
Snowden's reputation as a voice of truth about government corruption has been greatly diminished by his silence during the current crisis. Perhaps he checked his principles at the door when he fled to Russia.
Twitter is banned in Russia, that's why he is not Tweeting?
He's in Russia, not because he was ever particularly keen on Russian policy, but because it was a place outside of the reach of the American intelligence agencies. I expect, like a lot of Russians, he's not particularly keen on it, but the Russian system doesn't exactly put these things up for a popular vote, so neither he nor most Russians is especially well positioned to do anything about it.