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0 pointsreedlaw12y ago0 comments

I wonder why he left Hong Kong then? Maybe he couldn't live with the writing on the wall telling him eventually the legal system there would probably hand him over.

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pyre12y ago· 2 in thread

My understanding is that Wikileaks convinced him to hopscotch Hong Kong => Russia => Cuba => Venezuela. I think that Snowden's father made some statements that he was angry with Wikileaks for this (because it ended up with Snowden stranded in Moscow).

reedlawOP12y ago

That's unfortunate. It seems in retrospect he would have been better of waiting in Hong Kong until he had a promise of asylum elsewhere as well as a safe passage.

guelo12y ago

I don't think that's how it was working out. The US had started extradition proceedings and had told Hong Kong to arrest him. Hong Kong was required to do it based on the treaties with the US. They ended up giving Snowden a small window to leave by using a technical excuse but that wasn't going to last. If he had stayed in Hong Kong he'd be in jail for months and then be extradited to the US.

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