US failure to clarify Snowden papers tied HK's hands, says justice chief
Justice chief says US failure to clarify arrest request and to respond to snooping claims were among reasons why Snowden could not be held
Washington's failure to answer questions about cybersnooping in Hong Kong was part of the reason the city was unable to hold Edward Snowden, the justice minister said last night as he hit back at claims that local authorities stalled on arresting the American whistle-blower.
Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said the lack of a response to the former National Security Agency contractor's claim of US hacking in the city and a failure by American authorities to clarify aspects of their request for an arrest left Hong Kong with no lawful grounds to detain Snowden.
Without the information, there was "no legal basis to ask the court to issue a warrant for the provisional arrest", Yuen said. "Without the warrant of arrest, the Hong Kong government had no legal basis to restrict or to stop Mr Snowden from leaving."
Despite Snowden's departure, Yuen said Hong Kong still required a "comprehensive and satisfactory" reply from the US on the cybersnooping accusation.
"Our stance is very clear, we had no deliberate intention whatsoever to free Mr Snowden or to delay the US request for arrest," Yuen said. "All the way, we were strictly following Hong Kong law and our treaty with the US, as well as relying on the rule of law. All the way we had communicated with the US. But up to this moment, the US still has yet to reply to us with the information we requested last Friday."
Yuen said information on cyberhacking would have been material in deciding whether to deport Snowden as it may reveal whether the offences he was accused of were "political" in nature. Hong Kong's treaty with the US does not allow extradition when an offence is "political".