Docs Reveal US Used Denmark for Rendition Flight Waiting to Kidnap Snowden
As U.S. was requesting countries apprehend and extradite whistleblower, Danish authorities gave OK for rendition craft
A U.S. rendition plane was ready and waiting in Copenhagen in June 2013 to nab National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, a Danish news website reported this week.
At the time, Snowden had fled Hong Kong and was stuck at the airport in Moscow.
Documents obtained by Denfri.dk from Denmark's Ministry of Justice, and which back previous claims, show that Danish authorities approved a request from the United States for a specific aircraft to fly over and in Danish territory "for state purposes of a non-commercial nature," and indicate that the aircraft did, in fact, land in Copenhagen.
That aircraft, with registration number N977GA, has been used in CIA and Department of Justice kidnappings, The Register reported in 2014.
Denfri.dk received the documents, many heavily redacted, following Freedom of Information requests it had sent in August 2015 "regarding requests from the U.S. government to Denmark and other countries that they arrest and extradite Snowden if he set foot in their country," Sputnik reports.
Among the documents the site received, RT reports, was "a batch of heavily redacted emails indicating communications between senior officials in Denmark's police, Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, including Anders Herping Nielsen, a chief consultant of the Justice Ministry's international office and its former deputy head, whose responsibility it is to decide on the extradition of people for trial in other countries."
The Justice Ministry wrote in its reply to denfri.dk: "Denmark's relationship with the U.S. would be damaged if the information becomes public knowledge."
The whistleblower himself tweeted this on Wednesday:
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
A U.S. rendition plane was ready and waiting in Copenhagen in June 2013 to nab National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, a Danish news website reported this week.
At the time, Snowden had fled Hong Kong and was stuck at the airport in Moscow.
Documents obtained by Denfri.dk from Denmark's Ministry of Justice, and which back previous claims, show that Danish authorities approved a request from the United States for a specific aircraft to fly over and in Danish territory "for state purposes of a non-commercial nature," and indicate that the aircraft did, in fact, land in Copenhagen.
That aircraft, with registration number N977GA, has been used in CIA and Department of Justice kidnappings, The Register reported in 2014.
Denfri.dk received the documents, many heavily redacted, following Freedom of Information requests it had sent in August 2015 "regarding requests from the U.S. government to Denmark and other countries that they arrest and extradite Snowden if he set foot in their country," Sputnik reports.
Among the documents the site received, RT reports, was "a batch of heavily redacted emails indicating communications between senior officials in Denmark's police, Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, including Anders Herping Nielsen, a chief consultant of the Justice Ministry's international office and its former deputy head, whose responsibility it is to decide on the extradition of people for trial in other countries."
The Justice Ministry wrote in its reply to denfri.dk: "Denmark's relationship with the U.S. would be damaged if the information becomes public knowledge."
The whistleblower himself tweeted this on Wednesday:
A U.S. rendition plane was ready and waiting in Copenhagen in June 2013 to nab National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, a Danish news website reported this week.
At the time, Snowden had fled Hong Kong and was stuck at the airport in Moscow.
Documents obtained by Denfri.dk from Denmark's Ministry of Justice, and which back previous claims, show that Danish authorities approved a request from the United States for a specific aircraft to fly over and in Danish territory "for state purposes of a non-commercial nature," and indicate that the aircraft did, in fact, land in Copenhagen.
That aircraft, with registration number N977GA, has been used in CIA and Department of Justice kidnappings, The Register reported in 2014.
Denfri.dk received the documents, many heavily redacted, following Freedom of Information requests it had sent in August 2015 "regarding requests from the U.S. government to Denmark and other countries that they arrest and extradite Snowden if he set foot in their country," Sputnik reports.
Among the documents the site received, RT reports, was "a batch of heavily redacted emails indicating communications between senior officials in Denmark's police, Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, including Anders Herping Nielsen, a chief consultant of the Justice Ministry's international office and its former deputy head, whose responsibility it is to decide on the extradition of people for trial in other countries."
The Justice Ministry wrote in its reply to denfri.dk: "Denmark's relationship with the U.S. would be damaged if the information becomes public knowledge."
The whistleblower himself tweeted this on Wednesday: