Ah you are right. I seem to have gotten it mixed up with the initial 1 year refugee status he was granted, before the first 3 year temporary residency permit.
Either way, the US tried to prevent his leaving Hong Kong but however they submitted it, their request didn’t comply with Hong Kong law so there was no legal basis for them to detain him.
Four countries had offered Snowden permanent asylum: Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela. No direct flights between Moscow and Venezuela, Bolivia, or Nicaragua existed, however, and the U.S. pressured countries along his route to hand him over. His intended destination was Ecuador, but his passport being revoked while he was in flight from Hong Kong meant he was stuck in Russia.
He had given all copies of the evidence he had to journalists in Hong Kong reporting on American issues, specifically so when travelling through Russia they would have nothing to leverage.
Snowden said in July 2013 that he decided to bid for asylum in Russia because he felt there was no safe way to reach Latin America.
40 days but that’s still quite some
Ah you are right. I seem to have gotten it mixed up with the initial 1 year refugee status he was granted, before the first 3 year temporary residency permit.
Either way, the US tried to prevent his leaving Hong Kong but however they submitted it, their request didn’t comply with Hong Kong law so there was no legal basis for them to detain him.
Four countries had offered Snowden permanent asylum: Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela. No direct flights between Moscow and Venezuela, Bolivia, or Nicaragua existed, however, and the U.S. pressured countries along his route to hand him over. His intended destination was Ecuador, but his passport being revoked while he was in flight from Hong Kong meant he was stuck in Russia.
He had given all copies of the evidence he had to journalists in Hong Kong reporting on American issues, specifically so when travelling through Russia they would have nothing to leverage.
Snowden said in July 2013 that he decided to bid for asylum in Russia because he felt there was no safe way to reach Latin America.
Considering they grounded Evo Morales’ plane because they thought he was on it, I’d say that’s a fair bet.