India says no to whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s asylum request
Snowden submitted asylum applications to a number of countries including China, Austria, Finland, France, Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Spain, Venezuela and Ireland. He had previously made requests to the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Iceland.
Snowden, a former NSA (National Security Agency) contractor, leaked the existence of PRISM, the agency's secret surveillance and data collection project. He faces charges in the US of leaking classified intelligence information and theft of government property. He was in Hong Kong when the first details of NSA surveillance project were published.
India’s foreign ministry’s official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin confirmed that the Indian embassy in Moscow received Snowden’s application on Sunday, June 30.
“Following careful examination we have concluded that we see no reason to accede to the Snowden request,” Akbaruddin said.
In addition to India, Brazil has also rejected Snowden’s application and European countries including Germany Eight European states including Spain and Germany said that asylum-seeking applicants had to be on their soil.
Snowden who is at Moscow airport withdrew is application for asylum from Russia after the Russian President Vladimir Putin set a condition that Snowden should stop revealing classified information.
