4 ms·

Ask HN: What proof is there that Snowden is safe?

27 points by joewee 13y ago

I don't trust anything Assange has to say. Besides Assange's tweets, what proof is there that Snowden isn't been held in Russia and that he is safe?

weinzierl 13y ago
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, publicly said that Snowden isn't held in Russia. Putin said Snowden remained in Sheremetyevo airport's transit area and vowed that Moscow would not extradite the whistleblower to the US. He also insisted that Russia's security services had no contact with Snowden, a claim greeted with suspicion. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-moscow-vladimir-putin http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-m... We haven't received a sign of life from Snowden for six days now, we don't know for sure if he is safe.
- joewee 13y ago
  "My friend Olga Bychkova, a host from radio Echo of Moscow, described a scene she witnessed in the airport's transit zone on the day of Snowden's arrival on Sunday. "I saw about 20 Russian officials, supposedly FSB [security service] agents in suits, crowding around somebody in a restricted area of the airport," Bychkova told me. "The Kremlin pretends they have nothing to do with him being stuck in Moscow, but in reality they're all over him." http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/26/the_no_show http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/26/the_no_show
- tptacek 13y ago
  Oh, well, if Vladimir Putin says everything's OK. Good read: http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/1594486514 http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/15944...
  - aptwebapps 13y ago
    Hey, GWB looked deep into his eyes. If he trusts him, I trust him.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
verroq 13y ago
Has anyone in the airport actually seen him in the transit area?
- joewee 13y ago
  The only person who says they might have seen him said he was surrounded by people that look like FSB. See the foreignpolicy article.
  - verroq 13y ago
    Only one?
    - joewee 13y ago
      Well, the whole thing baffles me. Why haven't Greenwald or Assange provided evidence of his safety? Assange making claims that he had safe passage to Ecuador only to have that discredited calls into question anything he has said about his safety up until this point.
sktrdie 13y ago
Does anyone know if this Twitter account is actually his? https://twitter.com/EJosephSnowden https://twitter.com/EJosephSnowden If that's the case, then that is pretty good proof that he's doing ok, and can also connect to the internet :-) However, scrolling down his Twitter timeline, it seems that there's a lot of auto-generated tweets. Not sure.
- joewee 13y ago
  Doesn't look real. No mentions of his fathers interview and no one in the mainstream media has spoken to him.
- aggie 13y ago
  Greenwald says it's fake. https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/344333485550485504 https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/344333485550485504
jeena 13y ago
I assume the russians have him until he gives them all the information he still has which has not been leaked to the media yet.
daledavies 13y ago
I'm not 100% up on exactly every aspect of this, but why would Assange lie?
- joewee 13y ago
  Not saying he is lying, but it seems like he is misrepresenting how much control or influence wikileaks has in being able to protect Snowden.
joewee 13y ago
http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airport-hotel-152338275.html http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airpo...
runjake 13y ago
I'm curious about why don't you trust anything Assange has to say? What generated this explicit distrust? Media reports? Former acquaintances? Personally, I'm more inclined to distrust any media reports & criticism of Assange, because their sources tend to have some sort of ulterior motive (fame, smear, counter-intel). The best smear campaigns happen when you have recruited former insiders. It's more believable and the population likes juicy details. And to answer your question, Wikileaks has a staff member accompanying Snowden, so they probably have a clear idea of the situation.
junto 13y ago
If I was Snowden I would try to quietly disappear and let everyone think I was still in the airport for months or years. I had a crazy idea the other day that we find as many Snowden doppelgängers as possible. We all fly to Moscow and give him our passports. We then all wait in the airport an allotted time until Snowden is safe somewhere else and then all report that our passports have been misplaced and apply for temporary new ones to return home.

27 points by joewee 13y ago

I don't trust anything Assange has to say. Besides Assange's tweets, what proof is there that Snowden isn't been held in Russia and that he is safe?

weinzierl 13y ago

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, publicly said that Snowden isn't held in Russia. Putin said Snowden remained in Sheremetyevo airport's transit area and vowed that Moscow would not extradite the whistleblower to the US. He also insisted that Russia's security services had no contact with Snowden, a claim greeted with suspicion. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-moscow-vladimir-putin http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-m... We haven't received a sign of life from Snowden for six days now, we don't know for sure if he is safe.

joewee 13y ago
"My friend Olga Bychkova, a host from radio Echo of Moscow, described a scene she witnessed in the airport's transit zone on the day of Snowden's arrival on Sunday. "I saw about 20 Russian officials, supposedly FSB [security service] agents in suits, crowding around somebody in a restricted area of the airport," Bychkova told me. "The Kremlin pretends they have nothing to do with him being stuck in Moscow, but in reality they're all over him." http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/26/the_no_show http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/26/the_no_show
tptacek 13y ago
Oh, well, if Vladimir Putin says everything's OK. Good read: http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/1594486514 http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Without-Face-Unlikely/dp/15944...
- aptwebapps 13y ago
  Hey, GWB looked deep into his eyes. If he trusts him, I trust him.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

verroq 13y ago

Has anyone in the airport actually seen him in the transit area?

joewee 13y ago
The only person who says they might have seen him said he was surrounded by people that look like FSB. See the foreignpolicy article.
- verroq 13y ago
  Only one?
  - joewee 13y ago
    Well, the whole thing baffles me. Why haven't Greenwald or Assange provided evidence of his safety? Assange making claims that he had safe passage to Ecuador only to have that discredited calls into question anything he has said about his safety up until this point.

sktrdie 13y ago

Does anyone know if this Twitter account is actually his? https://twitter.com/EJosephSnowden https://twitter.com/EJosephSnowden If that's the case, then that is pretty good proof that he's doing ok, and can also connect to the internet :-) However, scrolling down his Twitter timeline, it seems that there's a lot of auto-generated tweets. Not sure.

joewee 13y ago
Doesn't look real. No mentions of his fathers interview and no one in the mainstream media has spoken to him.
aggie 13y ago
Greenwald says it's fake. https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/344333485550485504 https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/344333485550485504

jeena 13y ago

I assume the russians have him until he gives them all the information he still has which has not been leaked to the media yet.

daledavies 13y ago

I'm not 100% up on exactly every aspect of this, but why would Assange lie?

joewee 13y ago
Not saying he is lying, but it seems like he is misrepresenting how much control or influence wikileaks has in being able to protect Snowden.

joewee 13y ago

http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airport-hotel-152338275.html http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airpo...

runjake 13y ago

I'm curious about why don't you trust anything Assange has to say? What generated this explicit distrust? Media reports? Former acquaintances? Personally, I'm more inclined to distrust any media reports & criticism of Assange, because their sources tend to have some sort of ulterior motive (fame, smear, counter-intel). The best smear campaigns happen when you have recruited former insiders. It's more believable and the population likes juicy details. And to answer your question, Wikileaks has a staff member accompanying Snowden, so they probably have a clear idea of the situation.

junto 13y ago

If I was Snowden I would try to quietly disappear and let everyone think I was still in the airport for months or years. I had a crazy idea the other day that we find as many Snowden doppelgängers as possible. We all fly to Moscow and give him our passports. We then all wait in the airport an allotted time until Snowden is safe somewhere else and then all report that our passports have been misplaced and apply for temporary new ones to return home.