U.S. government asks Irish authorities to arrest Edward Snowden if he lands at Shannon

[Catherina]

U.S. government asks Irish authorities to arrest Edward Snowden if he lands at Shannon

Move made in case whistleblower takes flight from Moscow to Cuba
By PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

The American authorities have asked the Irish government to arrest Edward Snowden if he lands at Shannon Airport en route to Cuba.
...

Ireland is one of the countries considered for asylum by the 30-year-old who worked as a consultant for the National Security Service.

Now the Irish government has received a request from the US seeking the arrest of Snowden if his plane lands for refuelling at Shannon.

The Irish Times reports that a provisional arrest warrant is now being handled by the Irish police force’s extradition unit in Dublin.

The warrant is a pre-emptive strike against any effort by Snowden to evade US authorities by flying from Moscow to Havana on a commercial flight that stops off at Shannon for refuelling.

...

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/-US-government-asks-Irish-authorities-to-arrest-Edward-Snowden-if-he-lands-at-Shannon-214358251.html

Occupy.

[byeya]

1. And if they say No it'll be shot down like the action the Vincennes took?

[longship]

3. Gees!

No it won't.

[brooklynite]

2. True or False...

1. Edward Snowden is a wanted criminal suspect

2. Many countries request the detention and extradition of criminal suspects found in other countries

3. Ireland has a criminal extradition treaty with the United States

[iemitsu]

5. Ture or false...

1. The US has laws that protect whistleblowers and at least three other former government officials have blown the whistle on this very case and walk free.
2. The United States has become the nasty totalitarian state that it publicly condemns.
3. Democracies cannot have secret laws and secret courts because laws and courts are created by the people in a democracy.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. My responses:

1. True, but Snowden has been charged with a crime(s) and still needs to return to stand trial to determine his ultimate status. The US Government has every right to attempt to apprehend and detain him during the legal process we know as a trial. Do you think that they are just going to let him walk? The charges may not stick but that's, once again, for a trial to determine.
2. FALSE! What country are you living in? The US is NOT Soviet-era Russia. The US is NOT Nazi Germany. The US is NOT Iran. The US is NOT North Korea. Those are REAL totalitarian states. Not to say that we don't have some issues (i.e. Gitmo) that need to be resolved but c'mon....
3. Debatable I suppose, though it's not like the CIA and other intelligence agencies were created yesterday and they've always operated covertly (by their very nature they have to). We've managed to retain a democratic society despite them and have been through worse periods of time where government officials actually used intelligence agencies improperly against individuals and other countries. No evidence that things are worse today than they were before in terms of secrecy and we the people can petition Congress to change the laws governing intelligence gathering if and when we want and/or elect new members of Congress to address them.

[brooklynite]

12. Definitely not "Ture"

1A. Whistleblower laws allow the revelation of violations of law and policy through stated procedures and to defined parties. They do not permit the release of information to any outlet the "whistleblower" chooses.

1B. The fact that party A was not prosecuted does not exempt party B.

2. Lets review:

- you have the right to public post criticisms of the Government?
- you have the right to petition the Government and/or sue in Court?
- you have the right to vote for your elected officials?

As I've said before, having lived under a dictatorship with the arrest and suppression of political opposition, the censorship of news media, curfews and military checkpoints in the streets, I have no respect whatsoever for people who freely throw around phrases like "totalitarian", "fascism" and "police state".

3. The law in question, whether secret or not, was enacted by a Democratically elected legislature and implemented by a Democratically elected President. If your belief is that it is Unconstitutional, that is a matter for the Courts, but so far I've not seem a legal challenge mounted.

[Cleita]

4. Isn't Shannon a free port and according to international law exempt from the laws of the

country it's in? I don't think they can do this. I'm no expert on this but I was always under the impression that free ports could also harbor those with refugee status.

[Catherina]

6. I have no idea. If it is, I hope there's a way to stop the international law breakers n/t

[kentuck]

7. Interesting.

I had not heard of that.

[chimpymustgo]

8. I do hope there is someway for Snowdon to get out of this alive.

[HipChick]

9. yes...he will need to avoid Russian umbrellas with tips..

[brooklynite]

14. Free Ports are NOT "exempt from the laws of the country it's in"...

They are exempt from specific laws and regulations, generally dealing with economics and trade. They are NOT exempt from the nation's criminal code.

[Cleita]

15. I just looked up Shannon and according to wiki the airport was sold to a private operator,

so whatever the legalities are now it seems you are right. Also, much of the duty free status no longer exists as of the past couple of years. So I guess it's just another airport.

[sabrina 1]

10. As many have observed since Ireland gave up its sovereignty. so long fought for, to the IMF

and the World Bank, after the tragic collapse of its economy, its government no longer represents the people as is the case across Europe now.

How sad to see a country that emerged relatively recently from 800 years of oppression losing half its population in the process, cower before the latest Empire.

However, I am confident this does not reflect the people of Ireland's view, having been following the reaction to the Orwellian spying on the whole world.

[Cleita]

13. I wish my husband were alive. He was from Ireland and specifically the county of Limerick

where Shannon is. He would have been able to explain to me how it operates. I do know that you can buy stuff duty free there, which is why I think it's a free port. Also, since it is a refueling stop for airlines from all over the world, I believe it operates under international law not Irish law, meaning that maybe any extradition treaty that they have with us wouldn't apply. I wish I knew. I guess I need to go start researching.