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slate | As I explained earlier today, NSA whistle-blower/leaker/source Edward Snowden's decision to flee for Hong Kong doesn't look like the wisest decision given the former British colony's existing extradition treaty with the United States. But the GlobalPost's Benjamin Carlson
explains one detail that everyone seems to be overlooking: A
potential bureaucratic loophole that could buy Snowden some much-needed
time while he figures out where he'll go next.
Simon Young, director of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, told GlobalPost that a decision delivered by Hong Kong's High Court in March of this year required the government to create a new procedure for reviewing asylum applications.
Until the government does this, he said, asylum seekers are allowed to stay in Hong Kong indefinitely. "We’re still waiting to hear from government how they are going to implement this decision," said Young. "Until that’s the case, you can’t return anyone until the law’s in place."
In other words, should Snowden apply for asylum, then even if the US made a valid extradition request and Hong Kong was willing to comply he could not be deported until the government figured out a new way to review asylum cases — a potentially lengthy process.
Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch says that any Snowden extradition must be "a long way off" because of this gap in the law. "If it comes to the point where the US does issue a warrant on Snowden, and then passes it over to the Hong Kong authorities, and he decides to fight it, at this point it would be a court case," he told GlobalPost. "And it can be a long court case, going up to the court of final appeals."
It's unclear if Snowden and his allies planned to exploit this
loophole all along, although it would certainly provide the missing
rationale for why he chose to head to Hong Kong in the first place, and
why he felt comfortable enough to out himself and his (rough) location
over the weekend. Regardless, it's unlikely that he'll be resting easy
any time soon.
9 comments:
I suspected from the beginning that he was turned by the Chinese and that is why he initially fled to Hong Kong. It may be true.http://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-cia-officer-officials-considering-nsa-whistleblowers-case-potential-chinese-espionage/ By now, the Russians and Al Qaeda would like to kidnap and debrief him. Any whoos, when Fmr. Ambassador John Bolton calls you a traitor and wants you punished to the full extent of the law, along with California Dianne Feinstein, and Speaker of the House, John Boehner, then you are really in trouble. As for being a hero and getting everyone upset at the government...CBS News Poll @CBSNewsPoll 1h
Just 28% are worried that the government is collecting their own phone records..
Most people will choose comfort over justice. Most are more concerned with the next model of their favorite gadget than they are with their freedom to use it without being spied upon.
The plot is unraveling as I type this. http://www.zdnet.com/the-real-story-in-the-nsa-scandal-is-the-collapse-of-journalism-7000016570/
Everybody knows even the local police can search your phone records, texts and computer usage with a warrant and that is how they often get convictions. That is why people are so uninterested in the NSA story. It's not news. Besides we've had false scandal month and are burnt out.
Occam's razor.
1. Hong Kong extraditions are currently in suspense, and a sophisticated knowledge of international law is all that is required to be on top of this fact.
2. John Bolton has been PMS'ing for the past 30 years of his public service. (and should for most purposes be disregarded)
3. That the first black speaker of the house and Diane Feinstein can find common ground is further indication of the anti-establishment hand of Koch at work behind the scenes. (have you seen the reports on how desperately tenuous Boehner's grasp of the speaker's gavel is?)
4. The low-information/high-consumption Murkhan citizen deserves exactly the political representation that he/she gets.
He may have already left Hong Kong. His handlers said he was running up huge bills there. They are raising money for his living expenses and legal defense. Hong Kong changed its regulations six months ago to require that a court consider cruel and humiliating treatment and not simply torture when considering extradition requests. But MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow comparing this Snowden clown to Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King is really getting on my last nerve.
I feel you sistah, but the interesting point that I would contend should be held in the foreground of our considerations of this topic is that the MSNBC crew (NBC/GE/Brookings) has found unequivocal common ground with Cato.
And the Comcast Tea Party shareholders revolt last month could have something to do with it. I haven't watched MSNBC in months, but I do see their rants on twitter from time to time. They are angering many of their former base and their ratings are dropping accordingly. Chris Hayes reportedly has lost 50% of Ed's audience as Ed was moved to weekends. From the beginning Hayes and Maddow seem to be in bed with Greenwald and the Koch brothers.
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What are some of the specific elements of the current MSNBC stew that you find off-putting?
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