The former government contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) documents, has left Hong Kong and flown to Moscow, according to several news reports.
Reports indicate that he may be headed to Cuba and then to Ecuador (or possibly Venezuela).
Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador:
#BREAKING: Snowden has requested asylum in Ecuador: foreign minister
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) June 23, 2013
CNN reports that the U.S. has revoked Snowden's passport, but their source did not specify when.
At about 11 p.m. EDT, Snowden left a government safe house in Hong Kong and flew to Moscow, where he arrived at about 9 a.m. EDT.
Kelvin Chan of The Associated Press reports that, according to Russia's state ITAR-Tass news agency, the 30-year-old ex-Booz Allen employee intends to fly to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela.
“He chose such a complex route in the hope that he will not be detained and he will be able to reach his final destination — Venezuela — unhindered,” a person "familiar with the situation" told Russia’s Interfax news service.
Snowden is traveling with Sarah Harrison, the closest adviser to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In August the Ecuadorian government granted Assange asylum in its London embassy.
Wikileaks has released a statement, which reads in part:
"Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed."
WikiLeaks is equating the situations of Snowden and Assange as former Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for Julian Assange, said Wikileaks is "interested in preserving Mr. Snowden’s rights and protecting him as a person. What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people."
Snowden leaked the first concrete evidence of the NSA's domestic surveillance apparatus when he gave Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald “thousands” of classified documents. The documents have corroborated claims made by other whistleblowers.
Before his identity was revealed on June 9, Snowden chose to flee to Hong Kong because he said it was a place "with the legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately detained."
On Friday the U.S. revealed it had filed three criminal charges against him and asked the Hong Kong police to detain Snowden under a joint extradition treaty.
Instead he decided to bolt for Russia while the request made its way through Hong Kong's convoluted extradition process.
SEE ALSO: Snowden Orchestrated Leak With Cryptic Instructions Involving A Hong Kong Hotel And A Rubik's Cube
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