Edward Snowden is underground, mobile, and missing. But the former government contractor who leaked National Security Agency documents that turned the world's digital privacy expectations upside-down appears to be keeping up with his plan to seek asylum in Iceland, with an assist from Wikileaks, of course. And the Icelandic government tells The Atlantic Wire that won't be easy.
Reuters reports Snowden contacted the Icelandic government about seeking asylum there through an intermediary last Wednesday, three days after he outed himself, and two days after word spread that he might be looking to head to the Nordic sanctuary from the Far East. He originally told The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald that Iceland was his safe-haven plan all along, despite initially travelling to Hong Kong instead. He's been holed up in China ever since arriving at the end of May, changing hotels, speaking with local newspapers as recently as the same day he made his request to Iceland, and possibly leaving the country since then. We don't know where Snowden is right now — his Guardian chat yesterday didn't provide any answers — but he's clearly been thinking about his next move as even President Obama said last night on Charlie Rose that there's an ongoing investigation into "Mr. Snowden." Turns out, Mr. Snowden got WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson to contact the Icelandic government about housing him:
In a column in Icelandic daily Frettabladid, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson wrote that a middleman had approached him on behalf of Snowden.
"On 12 June, I received a message from Edward Snowden where he asked me to notify the Icelandic government that he wanted to seek asylum in Iceland," Hrafnsson, who is also an investigative journalist in Iceland, told Reuters.
It's unclear whether Iceland will welcome the whistleblower or not. But his time in Hong Kong is running short, if he is indeed still there. Americans have 90 days to get a visa extension or claim asylum in Hong Kong or risk deportation. Which, given the situation, is exactly what he's trying to avoid. If Snowden arrived on May 20 as he claims, he's already been there for 29 days. He's got 61 days left. Seems like a good time to start making the requisite calls.
But if Snowden wants to do this — if his end goal, or at least temporary play, is really asylum in Iceland — then Snowden has to arrive in or around Iceland before the country will ever decide whether to let him stay. Jóhannes Tómasson, press secretary for the Icelandic government, told The Atlantic Wire's Philip Bump last week that Snowden has to physically be in Iceland, or at least near the border, in order to earn asylum there:
Applications for asylum shall be submitted to the police that carry out the preliminary inquiry in association with the Directorate. According to Para 1 Article 46 of the Act on Foreigners a person has to be present within or at the borders of Iceland to be able to apply for asylum in Iceland. Applications received from abroad, for example with e-mail, cannot be processed.
Expect TMZ-level paparazzi — and certainly international investigators — in and around Iceland. Of course, the spies are already waiting, aren't they?
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为了躲避引渡，美国“棱镜”计划揭秘者爱德华·斯诺登明修栈道暗度陈仓，一边在香港接受媒体采访，一边悄然向冰岛政府发出非正式政治避难请求。不过这并非易事。
路透社6月18日报道称，斯诺登6月12日通过中间人与冰岛政府进行接触，寻求政治庇护。他最初告诉英国《卫报》的格伦·格林沃尔德，虽然他先来到香港，在他的计划中，冰岛一直是“安全港”。
斯诺登自5月底到达香港后不断变换宾馆，接受当地报纸采访，并向冰岛发出了避难请求，之后便可能离开了中国。目前去向不明，但他的确在考虑下一步行动。
维基解密发言人赫拉芬森在冰岛日报《弗雷特布拉迪报》专栏中称，一个代表斯诺登的中间人找过他。身为调查记者的他告诉路透社：“6月12日，我收到消息，爱德华·斯诺登请我转告冰岛政府，他想在冰岛寻求避难。”
目前尚不清楚冰岛是否欢迎这位告密者。但是，如果他确实还在香港，他在香港的时间时日不多。美国人在香港有90天的时间办理签证延期，或者申请避难，否则将被驱逐出境。如果斯诺登如他所说在5月20日到达香港，那么他至今已停留29天，还剩下61天。
但是，如果斯诺登真打算这样做——如果他的 最终目标，或至少是短期内计划在冰岛避难——那么斯诺登必须抵达冰岛境内或周边，冰岛才会考虑其避难申请。冰岛政府新闻发言人托马索上周告诉《大西洋电 讯》的菲利普·邦普，为了获得冰岛的庇护，斯诺登必须身在冰岛，至少在国界附近。
避难者必须向冰岛警方提出申请，接受调查。根据冰岛法律，申请者本人必须在冰岛境内或国界才能提交避难申请。如果申请来自国外，比如通过电子邮件，将不会被受理。
当然，间谍已经在冰岛境内外翘首以待，不是吗？