Full Focus

As actors playing cavalry patrol the front line, federal artillery fires upon the confederate lines during Pickett's Charge at the finale of the Blue Gray Alliance reenactment during events marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania June 30, 2013. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863, in and near the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and was the battle with the highest number of casualties in the Civil War. The Union army defeated a force led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee in what is often described as the turning point of the war. REUTERS/Mark Makela

Editor's choice

Our top photos from the past 24 hours.   Slideshow 

 

Pictures

Photo

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Gettysburg's 150th

Re-enactors and visitors mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, often described as the turning point of the Civil War.  Slideshow 

Photo

Gay pride parades

Revelers celebrate in gay pride parades around the world, on the heels of twin victories on same-sex marriage in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Slideshow 

Sponsored Links

Snowden blames Obama for trying to block his efforts to find asylum

Related Topics

WASHINGTON | Mon Jul 1, 2013 7:17pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, charged with leaking secret U.S. surveillance information, said the Obama administration was denying him his right to seek asylum, according to a statement released by the WikiLeaks organization on Monday.

"It is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions," Snowden said in a statement published on the WikiLeaks website, referring to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. "This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile."

The United States has been on an international manhunt for Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor who faces espionage charges for leaking classified information about secret U.S. phone and Internet surveillance activity. He is believed to be holed up in the transit area of a Moscow airport.

"Although I am convicted of nothing, (the Obama administration) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden said in a statement posted online by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

"Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum... Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."

A Russian official on Monday said Snowden has applied for political asylum in Russia and Reuters saw a letter Snowden sent to Ecuador, thanking it for helping him get to Russia and examining his asylum request.

In the statement dated July 1 and signed "Edward Joseph Snowden," he blamed the Obama administration for adopting "the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon" in its efforts to block his search for asylum and said he was "unbowed in his convictions."

Snowden is traveling with Sarah Harrison, an activist with WikiLeaks. The group's founder Julian Assange has been granted asylum in Ecuador's London embassy, where he has been for just over a year.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Will Dunham and Eric Walsh)
U.S.
World
Russia
 
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (6)
Whatsgoingon wrote:
Not sure if US citizens are protected by any law for the “right of seeking asylum”, but he did raise a good point: Can citizenship of US be taken away by the government, and if yes what the process should be?

Jul 01, 2013 7:48pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
xyz2055 wrote:
This guy is full of himself. He stole top secret government documents and then gives them to foreign new services and governments. And he was expecting a ticker tape parade from the Obama administration? Just a touch on the arrogant and immature side. Hell Yes they’re trying to isolate you grasshopper. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.

Jul 01, 2013 7:52pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
xyz2055 wrote:
Whatsgoingon..his citizenship hasn’t been revoked…his passport HAS.

Jul 01, 2013 7:54pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
See All Comments » Add Your Comment