Snowden requests meeting with human rights groups in Moscow

Moscow: Former intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden asked to meet human rights groups at a Moscow airport on Friday to discuss what he called “threatening behaviour” by the United States to prevent him gaining asylum. The meeting would be the first of its kind since Snowden flew to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23. He has been stranded in the transit area of Sheremetyevo airport ever since, unable to take up asylum offers from third countries. Snowden is wanted by Washington on espionage charges for divulging details of secret U.S. surveillance programmes. The email address from which he sent the invitation to human rights groups was confirmed as authentic by an airport official. [caption id=“attachment_951961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Supporters of Snowden in Hong Kong. AP[/caption] “In recent weeks we have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in the U.S. Government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Snowden wrote. “The scale of threatening behavior is without precedent,” read the letter, a copy of which was posted to Facebook by an official of Human Rights Watch. The Kremlin has kept Snowden at arms length, saying he had not entered Russian soil. Snowden withdrew a request for asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin admonished him for doing work that was harmful to “our American partners”. Putin has said Snowden should choose a final destination and go there as soon as possible, but it is unclear how he would get to any of the three Latin American countries that have offered him asylum. Bolivian President Evo Morales’s official jet had to land in Austria after departing from Moscow, amid suspicions that Snowden was on board, triggering accusations that Washington had asked European countries to bar the flight from their airspace. “Never before in history have states conspired to force to the ground a sovereign President’s plane to effect a search for a political refugee,” Snowden wrote. “This dangerous escalation represents a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America or my own personal security, but to the basic right shared by every living person to live free from persecution.” In the letter posted on the Facebook page of Human Rights Watch representative Tanya Lokshina, Snowden said the meeting was intended to discuss “the next steps forward in my situation”, but did not disclose any specific details. Human rights groups Transparency International and Amnesty International also confirmed they had received emails inviting them to a meeting at the airport. “Yes, I have received a brief email. It said that he would like to meet with a representative of a human rights organisation - there was not much information there. I’m planning to go,” said Sergei Nikitin, the head of Amnesty International Russia. Reuters