Edward Snowden, the surveillance whistle-blower who is thought to be trapped in the legal limbo of a transit zone at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, used his first public comments since fleeing Hong Kong to attack the US for revoking his passport. He also accused his country of bullying nations that might grant him asylum.
"On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic 'wheeling and dealing' over my case", Snowden said in a statement released by WikiLeaks. "Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the president ordered his vice-president to pressurize the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions. This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extra-legal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression."
Snowden's increasingly desperate predicament became further apparent on Monday night with the leak of a letter he had written to Ecuador praising its "bravery" and expressing "deep respect and sincere thanks" for considering his request for political asylum.
Rafael Correa, the President insisted Ecuador will not help Snowden leave Moscow, saying he had never intended to facilitate his attempted flight to South America.
In his statement through WikiLeaks, which has been assisting him since he left Hong Kong on 10th June, Snowden contrasted the current US approach to his extradition with its previous support of political dissidents in other countries. "For decades, the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum," he said. "Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the US in article 14 of the universal declaration of human rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country."
Snowden also accused the Obama administration of "using citizenship as a weapon", which has apparently left him unable to leave the airport in Moscow. "Although I am convicted of nothing, [the US] has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," he said. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum."
Moscow confirmed earlier on Monday that Snowden had applied for political asylum in Russia. The LA Times said Snowden had made similar applications to a total of 15 countries, including India- may be because his findings reveal how America spied into the Indian Embassy in America.
Snowden paid tribute to those who have helped him: "One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth," he said and added, "My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful."
"On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic 'wheeling and dealing' over my case", Snowden said in a statement released by WikiLeaks. "Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the president ordered his vice-president to pressurize the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions. This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extra-legal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression."
Snowden's increasingly desperate predicament became further apparent on Monday night with the leak of a letter he had written to Ecuador praising its "bravery" and expressing "deep respect and sincere thanks" for considering his request for political asylum.
Rafael Correa, the President insisted Ecuador will not help Snowden leave Moscow, saying he had never intended to facilitate his attempted flight to South America.
In his statement through WikiLeaks, which has been assisting him since he left Hong Kong on 10th June, Snowden contrasted the current US approach to his extradition with its previous support of political dissidents in other countries. "For decades, the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum," he said. "Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the US in article 14 of the universal declaration of human rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country."
Snowden also accused the Obama administration of "using citizenship as a weapon", which has apparently left him unable to leave the airport in Moscow. "Although I am convicted of nothing, [the US] has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," he said. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum."
Moscow confirmed earlier on Monday that Snowden had applied for political asylum in Russia. The LA Times said Snowden had made similar applications to a total of 15 countries, including India- may be because his findings reveal how America spied into the Indian Embassy in America.
Snowden paid tribute to those who have helped him: "One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth," he said and added, "My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful."
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