Norway Offers No Extradition Guarantees Re Snowden's Oslo Trip for Award

Norway cannot guarantee that Edward Snowden will not be extradited, a representative from the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security told Sputnik Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Norway cannot guarantee that former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden will not be extradited should he travel to Oslo to receive the PEN Club prize in person, a representative from the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security told Sputnik Thursday.

Snowden has been chosen as this year's recipient of the annual Ossietzky Prize of the Norwegian branch of the PEN Club for his mass surveillance revelations. The PEN Club has petitioned Oslo City Court for an order to allow Snowden to attend the awards ceremony in November and guarantee that he would not be extradited to the United States from Norway. On Wednesday, the government of Norway asked the court to dismiss the case.

“We cannot in advance make a court decision whether or not this person will be extradited. Once there is a formal request, for example, from the US then the court in Norway will treat it and say whether there is a basis for extradition or there is not,” senior communications adviser for the ministry Andreas Skjold-Lorange explained.

Snowden started making revelations about widespread US global surveillance in 2013. The same year, Russia granted the whistleblower temporary asylum for one year. In August 2014, Snowden received a three-year residence permit to live in Russia.

In 2013, the US authorities sent a diplomatic note, urging the Norwegian authorities to arrest and extradite Snowden should he arrive in the country.