Snowden has been on the run from his native US since June 2013
AFP
Former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden has asked a Swiss lawyer to explore the possibility of the United States fugitive coming to Switzerland.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch
Snowden is currently holed up in Moscow to escape a US arrest warrant after lifting the lid on NSA snooping operations that allegedly used illegal means to tap into telephone and internet data. Snowden’s Russian asylum visa expires in August.
A global network of lawyers is currently searching for another country that will take him in without extraditing him to the US, according to Swiss media.
One of those legal experts, Marcel Bosonnet, is examining whether Switzerland will accept the arrival of Snowden, who used to operate for the NSA in Geneva.
Bosonnet told Le Temps newspaper that he was exploring the options of political asylum and humanitarian grounds for allowing Snowden safe passage into Switzerland.
“It is up to the Swiss authorities to say how they could ensure the presence of Edward Snowden without him being arrested and handed over to the US authorities,” the Zurich-based lawyer said in the interviewExternal link. “It is obvious that Switzerland should provide prior guarantees.”
Bosonnet added that it could be in Switzerland’s interest to have Snowden on Swiss soil considering that the government has endorsed an inquiry into alleged criminal NSA surveillance methods.
“It would therefore be logical to hear from the author of the [NSA espionage] revelations that have been aired,” he said.
The NZZ am Sonntag newspaper first reported that Bosonnet had been contacted by a Berlin lawyer to explore Snowden’s options in Switzerland.
Most Read Swiss Abroad
More
Heard the one about the Swiss company installing laugh detectors?
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Greenwald advocates Swiss asylum for whistleblower Snowden
This content was published on
“A stable, well-off and important country like Switzerland can take Snowden in,” Greenwald said in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund newspapers, adding it was the responsibility of any country benefiting from Snowden’s revelations to offer him asylum. Snowden, a former NSA contractor who fled the United States in June 2013 after leaking…
This content was published on
Revelations from former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden about the extent of eavesdropping by the US agency, Britain’s GCHQ and partners continue to cause outrage in Europe. They have also sparked a global debate over privacy and the limits of spying. Switzerland has also been pulled into the controversy (see infobox). The cabinet…
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, while admitting that the latest reports would not make relations with the US any easier, told Swiss public radio on Monday evening that it was important to “keep calm”. Relations between the two countries are already strained over an on-going tax evasion row. Switzerland is faced with a US ultimatum…
This content was published on
“Everyone’s in the line. Everything out there is being collected by the National Security Agency (NSA),” added Binney, who worked for 30 years at the NSA and helped automate its worldwide eavesdropping before resigning in 2001. Binney was one of seven prominent speakers at the one-day public forum at Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL),…
This content was published on
The centre’s stark concrete vaults also protect the highly sensitive information of banks and other clients from the prying eyes of governments or economic spies. ‘Trust’ is the watchword of the expanding Swiss data storage industry as it quietly carves out a highly lucrative global niche. Recent revelations of United States intelligence agency spying, coupled…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.