Snowden Open to Testifying in Germany

[questionmark]

Edward Snowden says he is willing to cooperate with investigations into NSA spying. At a meeting with a German lawmaker in Moscow, he reportedly suggested he would be open to coming to Germany, and complained of a US 'campaign of persecution.' Berlin has at least signaled readiness to talk.

Edward Snowden has said he is willing to cooperate with investigations into the US spying scandal -- but he will not testify on Russian soil. The former contractor for the United States' National Security Agency (NSA) wrote down his intentions in a letter handed to German Green Party lawmaker Hans-Christian Ströbele after the pair met in Moscow, where Snowden has been granted temporary asylum.

In the letter, which Ströbele also signed, Snowden said he would "cooperate in the responsible finding of fact" with regard to the "truth and authenticity" of the documents he has leaked.

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I am seeing more black clouds obscuring a wonderful friendship....

[Finity]

I'm betting Germany will give him a passport and let him stay. They have nothing to loose by it, the US government are being seen as the bad guys in Europe right now and it's on them to improve relations. They are in no possition to make demands for Snowden back.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Finity

[aztek]

he better stay in russia, and if germans want to talk to him, come to russia and talk.

something will happen to him in germany if he goes.

[Drayno]

he better stay in russia, and if germans want to talk to him, come to russia and talk.

something will happen to him in germany if he goes.

He'll probably be disappeared.

Only to suddenly appear on U.S. soil.

[Babe Ruth]

Telling the truth is not a crime. I very much agree with that.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

I'd love to see him go to Germany, give his evidence, have a nice holiday and go safely back to Russia.

Just so a certain other fellow, you know the one, the one using the Ecuadorian Embassy as his Bond Villain Lair, gets another blow to his argument.

[Babe Ruth]

The Australian living in the Ecuadorian Embassy has committed the radical act of exposing government crimes.

Such a bad boy he is. Nobody should be allowed to expose the crimes of government, eh Sir Wearer?

Most americans are like Aussies I guess, preferring to live in a fantasy land in which the beneficence of government is never questioned and never doubted.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

The Australian living in the Ecuadorian Embassy has committed the radical act of exposing government crimes.

Such a bad boy he is. Nobody should be allowed to expose the crimes of government, eh Sir Wearer?

Most americans are like Aussies I guess, preferring to live in a fantasy land in which the beneficence of government is never questioned and never doubted.

The fellow who renounced his Australian citizenship hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy is doing so to avoid answering questions over allegations of rape.

Not doing the laudable business of shining a bright light on dark secrets. Doing something, incidentally, protected by your own Constitution - Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech.

As the discussion about Vlad Dracul Tepes has shown, people can do good and evil at the same time.

[Babe Ruth]

The fellow who renounced his Australian citizenship hiding in the Ecuadorian Embassy is doing so to avoid answering questions over allegations of rape.

Not doing the laudable business of shining a bright light on dark secrets. Doing something, incidentally, protected by your own Constitution - Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech.

As the discussion about Vlad Dracul Tepes has shown, people can do good and evil at the same time.

The rape issue is bogus and I think you know that. He agreed to be interviewed many times, with lawyers present, in England, but that wasn't good enough for the inquisitors.

He IS doing the laudable business of shining a bright light on dark secrets--that why they want him castrated, or something similar. Shining that light makes him persona non grata with the authorities.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

I agree that there's something "iffy" about the rape allegations.

They cropped up once, and then basically went away with a "yeah, we're not going to pursue a conviction" (coupled with facts damning the people making the allegations) then suddenly there's a hell of a lot of noise about the case, the authorities are forced to act and seek extradition and Julian does a runner for safety.

There are two way of interpreting this (discounting questions of guilt or innocence):

Either new evidence has come to light, or there's been pressure applied.

I'm honestly starting to think that the later rather then the former is closer to the truth.

But irrespective of all that, he's now going to be remembered as "the guy who hid in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid rape allegations" rather then "the Aussie who stood up to the Might of the American State". Anything he says or does is going to be tainted by that, by the question of 'is he doing this just to distract from the legal troubles?" and "Is he doing this for attention?".

His fight has been ended for him. Either as a result of his actions or the result of a smear campaign, honestly I don't think we'll ever truly know.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Sir Wearer of Hats

[Babe Ruth]

The Aussie who stood up to the might of the American State and spent the rest of his life in prison? Like Bradley Manning?

What's to be gained?

Hopefully the international community will come to its senses and protect whistleblowers like Assange and Snowden from the predations of the US Government. Ecuador and Russia have stepped up in that regard, but it would nice to see others follow suit.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Snowden's a whistleblower. He has the facts and let them free.

Assange's a journalist. He was given the facts and published them.

Both of whom should be protected under American law. Sad state of affairs that they're not.