First published: 24th June 2013
On Sunday, 23rd June, the Hong Kong Government announced that Edward Snowden had left the Special Administrative Region (SAR) for "a third country" through a "lawful and normal channel" of his own free will. The HK Government does not volunteer such tracking information on all visitors to Hong Kong.
They also revealed that the US Government had requested a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden, but the documents provided did not fully comply with Hong Kong law and they had requested additional information to determine whether the request met the relevant legal conditions. There was, therefore, no legal basis to provent Mr. Snowden leaving the SAR.
Mr Snowden is believed to have arrived in Moscow, en route for Ecuador via Cuba and Venezuela.
In the same press release, the HK Government stated that it had formally requested clarification from the US Government on reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US Government agencies. The HK Government said that it would follow up on the matter to protect the legal rights of people of Hong Kong.
The reports alluded to came from a series of press interviews of Mr. Snowden in Hong Kong. During his short time in Hong Kong Mr Snowden has stunned the world and sparked a debate on the surveillance state we have been sleepwalking into.
Updated: 30th June 2013
The Hong Kong Government has continued to issue press releases concerning Mr. Snowden:
- June 25, 2013 Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen refuted US claims there had been deliberate delays by his department in the Snowden case.
- June 26, 2013 Secretary for Security TK Lai asked the US for a full explanation of alleged attacks by its agencies on HK computers
- June 27, 2013 The Immigration Department reported it had just received notification from the US that Mr. Snowden's passport had been revoked, and that he would now not be allowed to enter Hong Kong