MP for the Pirate Party, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, is speaking out in favour of granting asylum to Edward Snowden, the American citizen responsible for leaking details of the NSA spying operation after fleeing to Hong Kong to avoid repercussions in his home country.
Birgitta contends that Snowden will be handed a death sentence if he were to return to the United States, RÚV reports.
While the current Minister of the Interior, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir has noted that Snowden would have to first travel to Iceland in order to apply for asylum, former Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson has said that Snowden’s situation is not comparable to other asylum seekers and he would, therefore, not have to be in the country in order to apply.
Both Ögmundur and Birgitta would like to see the matter discussed in parliament and for the government to press the United States for information on whether the NSA was also monitoring the correspondence of Icelandic citizens.
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