LONDON — They made the most obvious of bedfellows: Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks.
When the former contractor who leaked top-secret details of U.S. and British surveillance operations landed in Moscow on Sunday, Snowden disembarked from Aeroflot Flight SU213 with Sarah Harrison, a member of the WikiLeaks legal team, by his side. His arrival in Russia, en transit to a third country in search of asylum from a U.S. extradition request, came after what appeared to be a Hollywoodesque plan to spirit him out of hiding in Hong Kong that was orchestrated with the aid of the whistleblower Web site.
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On Sunday, WikiLeaks said in a statement that Snowden would petition Ecuador for asylum. The government in Quito — which has already granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its embassy in London — confirmed that it had received an official request for asylum from Snowden.
“This was an obvious thing for us to do, to support him in any way we can,” said Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic journalist and WikiLeaks spokesman. “His revelations have been explosive and extremely important, and we’ve offered our full help and assistance.”
The behind-the-scenes machinations once again shined a spotlight on WikiLeaks, the crusading organization that has become a thorn in the side of Western governments through its occasionally damaging, almost always embarrassing revelations of official secrets.
The brand of assistance offered by WikiLeaks in legal cases is well documented and potent, with the group displaying an uncanny ability to tap assistance from countries hostile to the West and particular the United States. For more than a year, Assange, for instance, has defied the odds against the British and Swedish legal systems, holing up at the Embassy of Ecuador, a stone’s throw from Harrods in opulent Knightsbridge, as he fights extradition to face allegations of sexual assault in Stockholm.
The marriage is also a natural match, with both Snowden and WikiLeaks sharing an ideology of disclosure and a contempt for official secrecy. WikiLeaks has already been linked to Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the source for a trove of classified material passed to WikiLeaks and whose case has drawn close parallels to Snowden’s.
Hrafnsson said he had personally established contact with Snowden last week while the American was still in Hong Kong. He remained vague about the operational details of their contact, saying only “I used means that any journalist would.”
Arrangements were then made, Hrafnsson said, for Harrison, a member of the WikiLeaks legal defense team who works under the former crusading Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, to meet Snowden in Hong Kong and accompany him out of the autonomous region. Harrison, a British citizen and journalist as well as legal researcher, is not a lawyer. But she is considered a close confidante of Assange and a high-level member of the WikiLeaks operation. Harrison was still with Snowden in Moscow, Hrafnsson said.
WikiLeaks, Hrafnsson said, had been in the process for some days of trying to find a friendly government willing to grant Snowden asylum. He said had already made contact with the Icelandic government on Snowden’s behalf, but had been told by the government there that asylum seekers first needed to be present and within that nation’s jurisdiction before processing any claim.
In a statement on its Web site posted on Sunday, WikiLeaks said Snowden was heading to Ecuador. “Mr. Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety,” the statement said. “Once Mr. Snowden arrives in Ecuador his request will be formally processed.”
On Sunday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño confirmed his government had received a formal request for asylum from Snowden but did not elaborate.
Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for Julian Assange who once famously issued an international arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, said the group’s legal aid for Snowden rose from a need to protect him.
“The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person,” Garzon said in a statement. “What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange — for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest — is an assault against the people.”
When the former contractor who leaked top-secret details of U.S. and British surveillance operations landed in Moscow on Sunday, Snowden disembarked from Aeroflot Flight SU213 with Sarah Harrison, a member of the WikiLeaks legal team, by his side. His arrival in Russia, en transit to a third country in search of asylum from a U.S. extradition request, came after what appeared to be a Hollywoodesque plan to spirit him out of hiding in Hong Kong that was orchestrated with the aid of the whistleblower Web site.
Royal Ascot, Singapore’s haze, flooding in Canada, protests across Brazil, Miami Heat celebration and more.
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Kathy Lally, Jia Lynn Yang and Anthony Faiola Hong Kong says it could not stop him because information to process an arrest warrant was lacking.
Jia Lynn Yang It is unclear why the former NSA contractor who leaked secret documents remains free.
Haq Nawaz Khan and Tim Craig Hikers are killed in retribution for a suspected U.S. drone strike.
Karen J. DeYoung Kerry says 11 nations meeting in Qatar made firm new pledge because of changes “on the ground.”
Anthony Faiola In hard times, governments rein in support for events already stung by opposition of animal rights activists.
On Sunday, WikiLeaks said in a statement that Snowden would petition Ecuador for asylum. The government in Quito — which has already granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum at its embassy in London — confirmed that it had received an official request for asylum from Snowden.
“This was an obvious thing for us to do, to support him in any way we can,” said Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic journalist and WikiLeaks spokesman. “His revelations have been explosive and extremely important, and we’ve offered our full help and assistance.”
The behind-the-scenes machinations once again shined a spotlight on WikiLeaks, the crusading organization that has become a thorn in the side of Western governments through its occasionally damaging, almost always embarrassing revelations of official secrets.
The brand of assistance offered by WikiLeaks in legal cases is well documented and potent, with the group displaying an uncanny ability to tap assistance from countries hostile to the West and particular the United States. For more than a year, Assange, for instance, has defied the odds against the British and Swedish legal systems, holing up at the Embassy of Ecuador, a stone’s throw from Harrods in opulent Knightsbridge, as he fights extradition to face allegations of sexual assault in Stockholm.
The marriage is also a natural match, with both Snowden and WikiLeaks sharing an ideology of disclosure and a contempt for official secrecy. WikiLeaks has already been linked to Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the source for a trove of classified material passed to WikiLeaks and whose case has drawn close parallels to Snowden’s.
Hrafnsson said he had personally established contact with Snowden last week while the American was still in Hong Kong. He remained vague about the operational details of their contact, saying only “I used means that any journalist would.”
Arrangements were then made, Hrafnsson said, for Harrison, a member of the WikiLeaks legal defense team who works under the former crusading Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, to meet Snowden in Hong Kong and accompany him out of the autonomous region. Harrison, a British citizen and journalist as well as legal researcher, is not a lawyer. But she is considered a close confidante of Assange and a high-level member of the WikiLeaks operation. Harrison was still with Snowden in Moscow, Hrafnsson said.
WikiLeaks, Hrafnsson said, had been in the process for some days of trying to find a friendly government willing to grant Snowden asylum. He said had already made contact with the Icelandic government on Snowden’s behalf, but had been told by the government there that asylum seekers first needed to be present and within that nation’s jurisdiction before processing any claim.
In a statement on its Web site posted on Sunday, WikiLeaks said Snowden was heading to Ecuador. “Mr. Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety,” the statement said. “Once Mr. Snowden arrives in Ecuador his request will be formally processed.”
On Sunday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño confirmed his government had received a formal request for asylum from Snowden but did not elaborate.
Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for Julian Assange who once famously issued an international arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, said the group’s legal aid for Snowden rose from a need to protect him.
“The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person,” Garzon said in a statement. “What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange — for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest — is an assault against the people.”