Snowden asks Germany to support him against US 'persecution'
By Bruno Waterfield<
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/bruno-waterfield/>,
and agencies
2:15PM GMT 01 Nov 2013
Edward Snowden pleads for international community support in his fight to
stop his extradition to US on espionage charges as he says he is willing to
testify to US Congress
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10420352/Snowden-asks-Germany-to-support-him-against-US-persecution.html
Edward Snowden has written to the German government expressing his
willingness to testify about American spy surveillance if his asylum
“situation” can be resolved without his extradition to the United States.
*Click here to view Edward Snowden's
letter.*<
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02720/snowden-letter_2720716a.jpg>
Hans-Christian Stroebele, a Green MP, published the letter after meeting
with the former National Security and Central Intelligence Agency
contractor at a secret location in Moscow on Thursday.
The veteran MP, who is a member of the German parliamentary committee that
oversees the country’s intelligence agencies, said the fugitive NSA
operative had told him he would be ready to testify to the US Congress to
shed light on "possibly serious offences".
"He has always emphasised, also to my question whether he is ready to give
information before the German parliament in Germany... that first he would
prefer to present the facts in front of the US Congress," he said.
In an appeal for support from Germany, including a thinly veiled plea for
asylum, Mr Snowden’s letter called on the international community to stop
America extraditing him on charges of espionage for leaking US spying
secrets.
"I have faced a severe and sustained campaign of persecution," he wrote.
"I am confident that with the support of the international community, the
government of the US will abandon this harmful behaviour."
Pleading that he had performed a "public service" by stealing US
intelligence secrets to reveal an "unaccountable system of pervasive
surveillance", Mr Snowden argued in his letter that Germany and others owe
him their gratitude.
"These spying revelations have resulted in the proposal of many new laws
and policies to address formerly concealed abuses of the public trust," he
wrote.
"The benefits to society of this growing knowledge are becoming
increasingly clear."
Mr Snowden cited the "difficulties" of his asylum status in Russia that
prevent him from leaving the country to cooperate with parliamentary and
judicial investigators into alleged NSA surveillance activities in Germany,
including the bugging of Angela Merkel's mobile telephone.
"I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation are
resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact,”
he wrote.
“I look forward to speaking to you in your country when the situation is
resolved and thank you for your efforts in upholding the international laws
that protect us all."
Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany's interior minister, said on Friday that he
would try and find a way for German officials to speak to Mr Snowden about
NSA surveillance, in a move that could deepen a rift over the spying
scandal between Germany and the US.
"If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information, then we
will be glad to accept that," he said. "We will find a way to make a
conversation possible if Mr Snowden is prepared to talk to German
officials."
An interior ministry spokesman noted that Berlin had received an
extradition request for Snowden on July 3 should he arrive in Germany and
that Berlin has an extradition agreement with Washington.
"The asylum he has in Russia gives him security in Russia but not in Germany.
If he left he would not be able to return to Russia," said Mr Stroebele.
"He could imagine coming to Germany, as long it was guaranteed that he
could stay in Germany or a comparable country thereafter and stay safe
there."
Received on Tue Nov 05 2013 - 17:08:33 EST
