NSA Leak: UK Urges No-Fly Ban on Snowden

According to the Associated Press news agency, the British government has warned airlines around the world to refuse to fly ex-CIA worker Edward Snowden, who leaked information on top-secret US government surveillance programmes.

The agency, in a report, said that they saw a photograph of the document taken on Friday at a Thai airport of a British travel alert, dated on Monday on a Home Office letterhead, telling carriers to stop Edward Snowden, 29, boarding any flights.

The alert was issued by the Risk and Liaison Overseas Network, part of the UK Border Agency that has staff in several countries identified as major transit points for inadequately documented passengers.

They added that the alert was specific in mentioning that he "is highly likely" to be refused entry to the UK and that such a carrier may "be liable to costs relating to the individual's detention and removal" should they allow him to travel.

A British diplomat confirmed that the document was genuine and was sent out to airlines around the world. Airlines in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore confirmed the alert had been issued.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said such alerts were issued to carriers that flew into Britain and any carrier that brought Snowden would be liable to be fined 2,000 pounds ($3,000)

Reports from the US inidcated that the US government has begun to take steps to prosecute the  who now lives in Hong Kong, for exposing high confidential information on the secret NSA surveillance programme.

Only last Sunday, Snowden revealed that he was the source of top-secret documents about NSA surveillance programmes that were reported earlier by The Guardian newspapers in UK and Washington Post of the US.

Mr Snowden was last seen in Hong Kong. However, Snowden would have few options for seeking refuge if he were not allowed to stay in his preferred sanctuary which is a semiautonomous Chinese territory.

The revelation that the NSA is collecting millions of US phone records along with digital communications stored by nine major Internet companies has incited worldwide protests, majorly in New York and Hong Kong where about 1,000 protesters were expected to march to the US consulate and then the government to urge the administration of the semi-autonomous territory to not extradite him.
 
By using intrusive surveillance methods, the Obama Administration has sparked a national debate between security and invasion of privacy on an extremely large scale.

Guardian- Edward Snowden was NSA Prism Leak Source

UK-owned Guardian newspaper has revealed 29 year old Edward Snowden, a current employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, as a former CIA technical assistant who leaked details of a secret US programme that gathered millions of phone and internet records.

The revelations began on Wednesday night, when a report from Guardian came out indicating that phone company Verizon had been ordered by a US ‘secret’ court to relay millions of phone records on telephone call “metadata” to the National Security Agency (NSA).

The report continued, revealing that the NSA secret surveillance system known as Prism, was undergone, in an effort to track online communication by tapping directly into servers of nine major internet firms.

However, the involved internet companies have denied the allegations, while the papers revealed that the data they (NSA and the FBI) gathered were used to track suspected foreign nationals in terrorism and spying cases.

Although, the ex-CIA man’s identity was revealed by the UK papers with his consent, he claimed that he leaked the information in order to protect “basic liberties for people around the world.”

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, he said, “I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”

Although, he had no intention of hiding, he replied “nothing good” when asked what he believed would happen to him after the information went public.

Snowden has decided to seek asylum in Iceland, explaining that he had gone Hong Kong because of is strong tradition of “free speech”.

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has condemned the revelations, calling the leaks “literally gut-wrenching”, as the NSA asks the Justice Department to conduct a criminal investigation.

Former senior NSA executive turned whistleblower Thomas Drake, said that Snowden’s act was an extraordinary act of civil disobedience, adding that the US intelligence community will do whatever it can to prosecute him.

Only on Friday, US President Obama had defended the surveillance programmes of the governnment, calling it a “modest encroachment” on privacy which is of extreme importance in the protection of the country from terrorism.

Convicted Grandmother Fires at the UK Government for Condoning Death Penalty

Lindsay Sandiford, a 56-year-old grandmother of British origin, was handed down the death penalty in Bali by an Indonesian court for drug smuggling.

She is to be executed by a firing squad after being found guilty of smuggling 1.6 million Pounds Sterling worth of cocaine into the country in May, 2012

According to her written interview to Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sandiford compared the UK government’s outright refusal to pay for her lawyers as ‘tantamount to condoning the death penalty’ since she intended to appeal against the sentence.

Sandiford added, “The government has done very little to support me. The FCO has done even less. However, I have been able to talk about my situation and will continue to do so because there are others in similar desperate plights that are not seen.”

“There are, and will continue to be, British nationals facing execution without lawyers and because they cannot raise their voices the government is standing by refusing to assist with funding of lawyers for them.”

Ever since she was arrested and accused of being at the centre of a drugs ring, she has repeatedly denied she was attempting to sell drugs in Bali, insisting she had been coerced into carrying a suitcase full of cocaine by gangsters who were threatening to hurt one of her children.

However, she has shown appreciation to those who stood by her throughout her ordeal.

In the interview, Sandiford said, "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who made donations together with the uplifting messages of support."

“In my darkest hour, this was like a ray of sunshine. I was beginning to feel that my situation was unbearable. I felt totally stranded and alone. The public's caring has shown just how wrong you can be.”

“I am blessed to know my family loved me whatever. Just giving has shown me that you are never alone. People really do care when they know.”
 
According to Reprieve, the charity body assisting Sandiford, the deadline for lodging the next stage of her appeal is early next week.