Edward Snowden may receive Swiss asylum - Swiss Government

In the news today - reported by ye olde RT, Edward Snowden may apply for asylum in Switzerland, and guaranteed to NOT be extradited to the USA to face espionage charges.

Snowden to get Swiss asylum if he testifies at NSA hearing

Switzerland has reportedly decided it will not extradite National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to the US if he comes to testify against the NSA’s spying activities, Swiss media said.

In the document, titled “What rules are to be followed if Edward Snowden is brought to Switzerland and then the United States makes an extradition request,” Switzerland’s Attorney General stated that Snowden should be guaranteed safety if he arrives to the country to testify, Sonntags Zeitung reported.

In particular, the report proposes to ensure the whistleblower’s safety by inviting him as a witness to a parliamentary hearing focusing on the NSA’s surveillance practices.

In the document, the authority said that Switzerland does not extradite a US citizen, if the individual’s “actions constitute a political offense, or if the request has been politically motivated,” Swiss ATS news agency reported.

Snowden’s safety can thus be guaranteed if it is ruled that the charges against him have a “predominantly political character,” the document concluded.

The only obstacle for that could be “higher-level government commitments,” the Office of the Attorney General said, adding that it must be verified if such obligations do, in fact, exist.

Highly interesting times if he should take up the offer/idea!

a reply to: auroraaus

Finally ... this is indeed good news. It may be, that in future, the US and Britain may indeed be facing charges.

It's about time.

Nice to see an honest government doing the right thing, rather than the "we were just following orders" thing, or following an agenda within a coalition of countries, which we usually see happen.

And about the "if it can be ruled that the request was due to a political motivation" like what we see coming from our ridiculously treasonous American government hire's, whom are always claiming their unfounded righteous indignation, and backwards conclusions. Can they become any more obvious?

Note: The classification of information can't be used to hide criminal activity within our government, and if it is used in that way, it is a felony crime. Does our administration care? Of course not.

That is great news, Switzerland the (new) land of the free and the home of the brave.

great if this true....you have to love Switzerland they are a power unto themselves

a reply to: NoCorruptionAllowed

The thing that is a bit disconcerting though, is the end statement

The only obstacle for that could be “higher-level government commitments,” the Office of the Attorney General said, adding that it must be verified if such obligations do, in fact, exist.

Higher-level government commitments. Hmmm. But what are the chances of the Swiss bowing to the almighty USA? Sort of less disconcerting now, in the scheme of things, given the Swiss historical nature.

On one hand - I can see the whole espionage argument - on the other, which weighs heavily, is the whole method of surveillance went against the constitution - regardless of what rushed laws, decrees and commander-in-chief privileges there was. Snowden did something brave and highly patriotic. Maybe not patriotic to the Bush and Obama administration but to every US Citizen.

a reply to: auroraaus

This is just a ploy to get him out of Russia to poison him

He'll take a sip of water, or sit on a toilet, and 2 years later, terminal cancer and death.

CIA might even subcontract this kind of work to Mossad, god knows they do each other favors.

if I was Snowden I wouldn't trust any western country, swiss or not

I wonder why? Why would he apply to move on to *another* country? Isn't he happy in the bosom of Mother Russia? I thought he was fitting in just fine there?

Why ... oh ... why?

Sounds like a trap if you ask me!

originally posted by: auroraaus

Something doesn't make sense here. There is no conceivable way that Snowden could have done this without major help. I read an extraordinarily credible article here on ATS that finally explained in depth how it was likely the work of the CIA and Snowden was given the documents. How then could he be a credible witness in a Swiss court and how does the Swiss government benefit by harboring him? Switzerland is part of the world banking system, which makes them a part of the global "corporation" and therefore not an innocent player as people tend to believe. They are controlled by the same people that control the U.S., the U.K. and a lot of other countries. Why then would Switzerland declare they are going to get Snowden to testify in their kangaroo court that's about nothing more than keeping up appearances? Is it really just about keeping up appearances? Also, why is this article running in the U.S. MSM if it isn't crap. Wouldn't those same people, who also control the MSM, stop it from running and let it leak out through the tin hat crowd if it really was harmful to them in some way? I just can't make sense of it.

a reply to: Elton

Switzerland has always been bad ass in terms of global issues...its just so dang expensive or id move there!

a reply to: auroraaus

Examine the role played by the Swiss in their attempt to bring Julian Assange to trial on trumped up 'rape' charges with a promise to extradite him to the USA as soon as he leaves the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, which would amount to a death sentence. After doing so check yourself on the truthfulness - yea, on the trustworthiness of the Swiss regarding whistle-blowers - famous or not..

Given that Switzerland has caved in to other issues from America (Banking for one), this one will be no different, I would probably feel safer in Russia.

Didn't the Bilderbergs have their little meetings in Davos? Have they ever met in Russia?

a reply to: auroraaus

Hum I read that Switzerland was where the tall white aliens felt the most at home in climate and such and so moved there, wonder what the aliens want with him.

originally posted by: hashtagzog
a reply to: auroraaus

Examine the role played by the Swiss in their attempt to bring Julian Assange to trial on trumped up 'rape' charges with a promise to extradite him to the USA as soon as he leaves the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, which would amount to a death sentence. After doing so check yourself on the truthfulness - yea, on the trustworthiness of the Swiss regarding whistle-blowers - famous or not..

I think you are confusing Switzerland with Sweden - where he is wanted for allegations of rape.
Switzerland though, for their part, cancelled his bank account there a while back.

Saw this thread, had a look and then continued listening to the C2C radio interview I had going on in the background. The guy in the interview mentions Wired magazine; I think, hey wired, they've always been a good mag what with all the new fangled computery things and what have you, so googled up the wired website and lo and behold on the front page, an exclusive recent (June of this year) in person interview w/ Eric Snowden.

So I thought I'd link it for anyone interested, apologies if there's been a thread on this before but even then it's a good read (so far) that might bear repeating.

He says that he actually intended the government to have a good idea about what exactly he stole. Before he made off with the documents, he tried to leave a trail of digital bread crumbs so investigators could determine which documents he copied and took and which he just “touched.” That way, he hoped, the agency would see that his motive was whistle-blowing and not spying for a foreign government. It would also give the government time to prepare for leaks in the future, allowing it to change code words, revise operational plans, and take other steps to mitigate damage. But he believes the NSA’s audit missed those clues and simply reported the total number of documents he touched—1.7 million. (Snowden says he actually took far fewer.) “I figured they would have a hard time,” he says. “I didn’t figure they would be completely incapable.”

www.wired.com...

Regarding the OP, thanks for the Snowden update. Will be interesting to see what (if anything) develops with Switzerland.

coder

1, It was first reported in Russian MSM - not Faux News and their counterparts. (whether it makes it better or not - media is all as bad as each other in many cases, but I felt like I had to correct a point there)

2. You may be right re: credibility at a Swiss court. However, given the activities of the NSA, which aren't just directed at US citizens (like Snowden showed), they are also outwards facing intelligence gathering, not just terrorist organizations but foreign states. Those foreign states and organisations such as the EU (which is Switzerland's largest trading partner) are quite within their rights to launch an investigation, commission etc to find out to what extent they have been spied on - what methods were used and how they can better protect themselves. So yeah, they are quite interested in what Snowden might have to say.

a reply to: Runciter33

Thank you for that snippet Runciter And I had a good giggle at the Wired-fangled commentary with my coffee here.
And you are quite welcome

Great news.

The Swiss are very good at having a true democracy.

originally posted by: theabsolutetruth
Great news.

The Swiss are very good at having a true democracy.

You do realise women only got allowed to vote from February 7, 1971 in Switzerland.


They also host the Bilderbergers conferences, they also have the top leaders being schooled there (Lil Kim for example).