Fast-track those who sheltered Snowden: lawyers

Say families in peril in Hong Kong after helping whistleblower; appeal to Canada

MONTREAL — Canadian lawyers representing three families who sheltered whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong urged Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen on Wednesday to expedite their applications as refugees to this country.

“Our clients are specifically targeted by Hong Kong’s immigration authorities, who are actively trying to get our clients out of its territory and back to their home countries where they will be apprehended, tortured, or killed,” lawyer Marc-André Séguin told a Montreal news conference.

The lawyers want Ottawa to accept the families on an exceptional basis while their applications are processed.

Snowden fled to Hong Kong to avoid prosecution over the leak of classified material about U.S. government surveillance programs.

A congressional inquiry into the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor concluded the leaks compromised national security.

The families in question have been publicly quoted as saying they hid Snowden in their apartments for a few weeks in 2013 before he went to Russia.

The lawyers told a news conference March 9 of their intention to bring “Snowden’s guardian angels” to Canada.

Since then, according to Séguin, support for the seven people has increased. However, Hong Kong officials have also attempted to expedite their deportations to their home countries of Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Séguin said the families’ fears are genuine and that there are reliable reports Sri Lankan operatives have been on the ground, looking for some of the seven.

One of them, Vanessa Rodel, told reporters via Skype she fears for her safety and that of her five-year-old daughter if they are returned to the Philippines.

“I also hope the prime minister in Canada, Mr. Justin Trudeau, will open his heart to accept our case to send us in Canada,” she said.

Barring appeals, Séguin fears they are weeks away from being deported from Hong Kong.

The Montreal lawyers are behind the group “For the Refugees,” a non-profit set up to help the families.

Séguin said $100,000 has been raised, with donations from Snowden and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played Snowden in Oliver Stone’s 2016 film of that name.

It was a brief portion of that movie that inadvertently first brought the public’s attention to the existence of the asylumseeking Hong Kong families.

Despite filing paperwork with federal officials in January, the lawyers haven’t heard anything from the Canadian government, Séguin said.

Asked if the current influx of asylum seekers at the U.S.Canadian border could have an impact on a decision on their clients’ cases, Séguin said it shouldn’t have any bearing.

“I don’t think it’s a political decision,” he said. “The only question Ottawa needs to ask themselves is do they meet the definition of refugee.

“If the answer to that question is yes, then there’s nothing else left to consider.”

Snowden remains in exile in Russia. He has been charged with espionage in the United States and could face 30 years in prison.

His lawyer has said he wants to return to the United States if he can be guaranteed a fair trial.