Edward Snowden, the former NSA employee who leaked information on the NSA’s surveillance operations, was nominated for the EU parliament’s prestigious Sakharov prize for human rights last week. But should he be regarded as a refugee with a right to asylum? Edward Snowden has not suffered persecution and should face an American court, writes FRP’s Aaron Rhodes in German Die Zeit.
Aaron Rhodes writes:
It is time for Snowden and the international human rights community to think clearly about this case. The right to asylum is one of the most important parts of the international human rights system and was recognized in the Convention on Refugees in 1951, in order to protect those who are seeking refuge from persecution. The right to asylum will be undermined if it is applied in cases where people are accused of crime in democratic states.
More here (German).
Freedom Rights Project