

Snowden may be granted entry to Russia Wednesday - ra
http://rt.com/news/snowden-russia-asylum-request-503/

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peterkelly
> "He plans to get a job"

Getting a letter of reference from his previous employer may turn out to be a
bit tricky...

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dmxt
In Russia Federation, most employers don't require a letter of reference and
they don't contact previous employer.

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ekianjo
Not only Russia, most companies don't, almost everywhere in the world.

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adcoelho
I feel like this is more of a gateway for applying for asylum in some
embassies, as required by some countries, rather than an opportunity to stay
in Russia indefinitely, or at least for an year until the next renewal.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I think that is his plan. He can't apply for asylum in most countries without
going to their embassies and to do that he needs entry to Russia.

~~~
adcoelho
But its weird that Russia suddenly decided to grant him this safe pass after
denying him asylum in order to maintain the relations with the USA. Could
there be a hidden agenda somewhere?

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k-mcgrady
I don't think they ever denied him asylum, this is the first he has applied.
They just said that he had to stop releasing information that's damaging to
the US in order to be granted asylum.

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kushti
Proud to be Russian today

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xentronium
_Sigh_ , he probably doesn't know what he is signing for. Unless one of his
friends from foreign organizations is ready to employ and shelter him, of
course.

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mjolk
Snowden is not stupid - he knows what he's getting into. If the Russian
government is offering to shelter him, it's in exchange for more information.
They have no use for a mid-level sysadmin that they can't trust.

~~~
lhnz
I still find it difficult to believe that the Russian government didn't have
information about the US' spy programs already.

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Teapot
They might have. They wouldnt tell anyone what they know, or what they dont
know about.

~~~
mjolk
Exactly. This is an American (well, former) screaming from a soapbox that
whatever USA-conspiracy theory in mind is factual. This is a free pass to use
him as a puppet.

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mtgx
It's really very unfortunate that he couldn't go to Latin America, all because
US' European friends would rather break international law, and try and stop an
asylum request, than let him go. I think even most accused terrorists would've
had an easier time getting asylum than Snowden. In fact, I think I've just
read about one getting asylum in Europe recently, and it has happened before,
too.

~~~
eshvk
> European friends would rather break international law, and try and stop an
> asylum request, than let him go.

I am confused; I thought airspace was sovereign territory. As a country, are
you not allowed to allow or deny access to anyone you wish to allow ? I am not
clear where the breaking of international law comes.

~~~
pyrophane
Sort of. It could be considered a violation of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which states that "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy
in other countries asylum from persecution."

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moocowduckquack
I really hope he takes up Anna Chapman's offer of marriage, mainly because it
would be hilarious and would keep Bruce Sterling happy.

Of course it would look really bad in the US press, and mean that he would
definitely be under surveillance from a known Russian spy, but that is
probably better than the paranoia of maybe being under surveillance from a
companion who could well be a spy, and at least he'd share some ground.

