

French parties call for Snowden political asylum - NonEUCitizen
http://www.france24.com/en/20130701-snowden-nsa-france-asylum-melanchon-greens-le-pen-hollande

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mikegioia
If France were to grant Snowden political asylum, would that mean Russia is
obligated via treaty to send him there? Would France have to send an escort to
bring him back? Or is Snowden's fate entirely up to Putin and the Russian
government at this point?

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btilly
Snowden is in Russia, in the airport, not having gone through Russian customs
and without necessary documentation to do so.

My understanding is that he is technically on international ground, and
legally not in Russia. He is free to hop onto any plane that lets him do so.

According to Putin's latest pronouncement, he's welcome to stay in Russia only
if he stops the leaks against the USA, or he's welcome to go to any country
that will have him.

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dotcoma
I fear not; you need a passport to buy an international plane ticket.

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betterunix
Any country that grants him asylum would have to provide him with travel
documents. It would be easy for a corrupt government to stop people from
gaining asylum otherwise.

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dotcoma
ok, but he needs some country's ok first.

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laureny
These French leaders are being extremely naïve in making such demands,
probably the reason why they are all running minority parties.

France is a very close ally of the US with much more than just extradition
treaty ties. If Snowden set foot on French territory, he would be sent back to
the US in a matter of days.

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ernesth
> If Snowden set foot on French territory, he would be sent back to the US in
> a matter of days.

That's false. There are a number of reasons in which France does not extradite
to ally countries. For example, some italian terrorist have political asylum
since 30 years (look for Marina Petrella). For example, if death penalty is
possible, there will be no extradition.

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rdouble
The US has an extradition treaty with France since 2010.

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ernesth
and with Italy since much longer. Marina Petrella is still in France.

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rdouble
I assumed the terrorists and child rapist were "grandfathered in" and the
extradition treaty change didn't apply to people already in the country. But
you are probably right and Hollande would not extradite Snowden. Sarkozy would
have sent him back, though.

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jgrahamc
Three minority parties; none of the major parties.

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noplay
But 30% of votes during the last presidential elections. And EELV have some
ministres in the gouvernement.

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doe88
Nevertheless, as long as it is not one of the two big parties (which is not
the case yet) I don't think it is very significative and has much weight.

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GeneralMayhem
A couple things here:

First, the "party leaders" are Melenchon and now Le Pen. Melenchon probably
really believes that Snowden is doing the right thing, but his Front de Gauche
(Leftist Front) is the lowest-polling of the serious parties in France, and is
not very well respected outside of its core base. Le Pen is an ultra-
nationalist who only wants to protect him to spite the US. The Greens are in
coalition with the Parti Socialiste, but it's Hollande who's really running
that show.

Second, what Hollande said is completely meaningless; it's a bland, knee-jerk
press release that had to be said, but everyone knows that everyone spies on
each other. He has no intention of actually upsetting the status quo.

Unless we hear from Hollande's lips that he wants to offer asylum to Snowden,
this is non-news.

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jdangu
All countries spy at each other, it's just that some are better at it than
others. As a target country, "outing" the attacker is a natural diplomatic
reaction, albeit highly hypocritical. The recent communication war between
China and the US is an interesting example.

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jeremymarc
Stop saying French parties : it's only Jean-Luc Mélanchon and he's always
doing things like that just to buzz.

