Edward Snowden - official thread

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The former government contractor Edward Snowden gave an interview to Brazilian reporter Sônia Bridi in a hotel, in Moscow. The interview was broadcast yesterday on "Fantástico", a weekly TV newsmagazine aired every Sunday night.

At the beginning of her report, Bridi said that she and her crew arrived in Moscow only with the name of a hotel where she was to check in. She didn't contact Snowden, he contacted her. They shot the enterview at her hotel room, with all curtains closed at the windows.

Snowden said he would love to live in Brazil and that he requested the Brazilian government for asylum.

He said he made the request during the period he was retained at the Sheremetyevo International Airport, in Moscow. "I'd love to live in Brazil. If the country offered asylum, I'd accept. In fact, I'ved already asked for asylum in Brazil, when I was at the airport.

When Bridi told Snowden that the country had denied receiving the request, he was surprised. "Maybe I haven't met any procedure to be followed".

Asked about it, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it wouldn't comment on the interview.

In December, Snowden wrote an "open letter to the people of Brazil", obtained by Brazilian newspaper "Folha de S.Paulo". The letter was sent to the Brazilian government. In the letter, he promised the would help the investigations on NSA's actions in the country in exchange for asylum.

However, during the interview to Sônia Bridi, Snowden denied he would offer information to get asylum. He also praised Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff for having been the first person to speak against American espionage. (Watch the speech here.)

Dilma is among the presidents who had their phone calls intercepted by NSA. Beyond her, Petrobras (the Brazilian oil company) was also spied on by the agency.

Journalist Gleen Greenwald, who denounced the scheme and who was with Snowden, said that, in the next months, more details of the espionage by the US and the UK in Brazil will be revealed.

For the first time, Snowden revealed that his goal during his escape was getting to Ecuador. He stayed for 39 days in Russia after his passport was canceled.

He says he has a good life in Moscow and he is even able to go out on the street. "Russia isn't a perfect country, it spies the internet and censors the internet, but it's much better than prison".

Snowden said he'd love to be judged by American courts, although he wouldn't expect a fair trial.

"I didn't want to overthrow them [with the leaks], I want them to get better", he said.

You can watch the interview here (in Portuguese).

[Porissocri]

Edward Snowden seeks asylum in sunny Brazil (Economic Times report)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/edward-snowden-seeks-asylum-in-sunny-brazil/articleshow/35936671.cms

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