Snowden makes Norway asylum application.

[ProSense]

13. Snowden’s asylum request rejected

Snowden’s asylum request rejected

Justice Minister Grete Faremo has halted attempts to get the Norwegian government to reconsider an asylum request from Edward Snowden, the young American who has revealed massive surveillance and spying by the US government. Even though some view Snowden as a hero and political refugee, Norway clearly won’t jeopardize its relationship with the US by granting him safe haven.

Norway has been among the many countries where Snowden sought asylum, but his request was quickly turned down on a technicality by immigration agency UDI. The immigration authorities contended that asylum seekers must be physically present in Norway when they apply, while Snowden reportedly remains stuck in a transit zone at the Moscow airport after the US cancelled his passport. That meant he didn’t meet Norway’s formal application requirements.

A Norwegian organization that advocates freedom of expression, Norsk PEN, then took the initiative to bring Snowden to Norway as a sort of “transfer refugee.” UDI then responded that Snowden didn’t qualify for that status, either. Faremo now seems to have brought further attempts at aiding Snowden to an end.

In a press release issued by the justice ministry on Thursday, Faremo noted that the US wants Snowden extradited to face criminal charges regarding his release of secret documents. He thus has no right to asylum, she wrote, because he’s a fugitive from a democratic country with a criminal justice system like that found in the US.

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http://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/07/04/snowdens-asylum-request-rejected/

Why Won’t Anyone Take Edward Snowden?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023162351