No word from Hong Kong on Snowden’s return

[struggle4progress]

The Associated Press
First Published 2 hours ago • Updated 7 minutes ago

... Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged, but some of Hong Kong’s legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government.

The one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., part of the Eastern District of Virginia where his former employer, government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered, in McLean.

The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden’s name first surfaced as the person who had leaked to the news media that the NSA, in two highly classified surveillance programs, gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.

It was unclear Friday whether the U.S. had yet to begin an effort to extradite Snowden from Hong Kong. He could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution. In general, the extradition agreement between the U.S. and Hong Kong excepts political offenses from the obligation to turn over a person. Hong Kong could consider the charges under the Espionage Act political crimes ...

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/56497800-68/hong-kong-snowden-government.html.csp

[flamingdem]

1. Some Hong Kong lawmakers say China should decide on any extradition request for Snowden

Hong Kong legislators said Saturday that the Chinese government should make the final decision on whether former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should be extradited to the United States now that the Justice Department has charged him with espionage and theft of government property.

Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs.

It is not known if the U.S. government has made a formal extradition request to Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden. Police Commissioner, Andy Tsang, when was asked about the development, told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law.

When China regained control of Hong Kong in 1997, the former British colony was granted a high degree of autonomy and granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland china. However, under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/22/some-hong-kong-lawmakers-say-china-should-decide-on-any-extradition-request-for/#ixzz2WyhNVLMK