Switzerland has reportedly decided it will not extradite National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to the US if he comes to testify against the NSA\u2019s spying activities, Swiss media said.<\/p>\n
It has been revealed that trade secrets from other nations are not safe with the NSA. Snowden suggested earlier that the United States conducted espionage to prevent losing its economic prowess to other countries.<\/p>\n
In the document, titled \u201cWhat rules are to be followed if Edward Snowden is brought to Switzerland and then the United States makes an extradition request,\u201d Switzerland\u2019s Attorney General stated that Snowden should be guaranteed safety if he arrives to the country to testify, Sonntags Zeitung reported. <\/p>\n
In particular, the report proposes to ensure the whistleblower\u2019s safety by inviting him as a witness to a parliamentary hearing focusing on the NSA\u2019s surveillance practices. <\/p>\n
In the document, the authority said that Switzerland does not extradite a US citizen, if the individual\u2019s \u201cactions constitute a political offense, or if the request has been politically motivated,\u201d Swiss ATS news agency reported. <\/p>\n
Snowden\u2019s safety can thus be guaranteed if it is ruled that the charges against him have a \u201cpredominantly political character,\u201d the document concluded. <\/p>\n
The only obstacle for that could be \u201chigher-level government commitments,\u201d the Office of the Attorney General said, adding that it must be verified if such obligations do, in fact, exist.<\/p>\n
The document was reportedly requested last November. <\/p>\n
Snowden\u2019s Swiss lawyer, Marcel Bosonnet, said he is pleased with the Attorney General\u2019s conclusions. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe legal requirements for safety are met,\u201d he assured, adding that Snowden has already showed interest in testifying. <\/p>\n
Immigration rights activist Sarah Progin-Theuerkauf hinted that Snowden might even have a shot at Swiss asylum following the proposed testimony. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is evidence that Edward Snowden meets the criteria of refugee status under the Geneva Convention and therefore should be granted asylum,\u201d she told Sonntags Zeitung. <\/p>\n
Swiss politicians meanwhile are calling to welcome Snowden to Switzerland as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must now move forward, so that Snowden can travel to Switzerland as a witness as soon as possible,\u201d SVP National Luzi Stamm said, adding that the Swiss people have the right to know the truth behind the extent of US spying activities.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, Snowden has been the recipient of the German ‘Whistleblower Prize,’ the Sam Adams Award which was presented to him in Moscow, the German \u2018positive\u2019 Big Brother Award, the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize, and the Fritz Bauer Prize. <\/p>\n
He also joined the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, co-founded by Daniel Ellsberg, and was elected in absentia as rector of the University of Glasgow.<\/p>\n
Source: RT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Switzerland has reportedly decided it will not extradite National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to the US if he comes to testify against the NSA\u2019s spying activities, Swiss media said. It has been revealed that trade secrets from other nations are not safe with the NSA. Snowden suggested earlier that the United States conducted espionage … Continue reading “Swiss could grant Snowden asylum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2961,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,3],"tags":[1288,2990,3030,2956,3355,653,3354],"class_list":["post-15789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-news","tag-asylum","tag-edward-snowden","tag-nsa","tag-spying","tag-surveillance","tag-switzerland","tag-whistleblower"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2961"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15790,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15789\/revisions\/15790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}