Edward Snowden is to meet representatives from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Transparency International at the airport in Moscow where he is holed up to discuss his next steps forward.
In an email published by Human Rights Watch, the former intelligence agency contractor – whose revelations to the Guardian about US surveillance have caused controversy around the world – also suggests he will make a “brief statement” to the groups. Reuters said Snowden had emailed them separately to say that the meeting would be closed to the press but that the whistleblower would speak to the media later.
The meeting is due to take place at 5pm Moscow time (2pm in London/9am in New York) in Sheremetyevo airport and we’ll be publishing as many details as we can live here.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said they had received an email from Snowden setting out how he felt the US government was conducting an “unlawful campaign … to deny my right to seek and enjoy ... asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
