Edward Snowden has nowhere to go

The leaker has almost 20 asylum applications outstanding

Published July 2, 2013 10:49AM (EDT)

Edward Snowden is trying to get out of the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport but he's having trouble finding a place to go.

According to WikiLeaks.org, Snowden has also submitted asylum requests to Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, Ecuador and Iceland.

CBS News reports on some of his rejections:

Poland rejected Snowden's asylum request on Tuesday, and officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Spain and Switzerland said that he could not apply for asylum from abroad. Many European countries require an asylum request to be made on their soil.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Snowden had made a request for asylum in Poland, but the request had faults and was rejected. He did not elaborate.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, coincidentally wrapping up a long-planned visit to Moscow, said Tuesday that his government had not yet received an official asylum request from Snowden, but that it would be considered if and when received.

Snowden reportedly withdrew his request to Russia because of President Vladimir Putin's requirement that he stop leaking American secrets.

India won't grant asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the Times of India reported.


By Alex Halperin

Alex Halperin is news editor at Salon. You can follow him on Twitter @alexhalperin.

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Asylum Edward Snowden India Leaks Nsa Putin Russia