Edward Snowden, the former US security contractor who has exposed a major US government online surveillance operation, has sought asylum in Ecuador.
An aircraft believed to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow earlier today, with the US still aiming to extradite the American citizen from Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong government has released a statement, admitting the US government “had earlier requested a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden.”
The documentation provided by the US for this warrant of arrest “did not fully comply with legal requirements under Hong Kong law” and so the Hong Kong government “requested additional information” from the US government. However, this request was not met and as a result the Hong Kong government admitted “there was no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.”
While Moscow official confirmed the flight landed in Moscow, they did not reveal if Snowden had been on board.
However, Reuters reports that an employee of Aeroflot – the Russian airline that operated the service – said Snowden had booked a seat on the flight.
Ecuador has been sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London embassy for the past year.
Wikileaks released a statement saying Snowden is “bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks.”
The media organisation said Snowden had requested their help. “Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety,” the statement said.
