Edward Snowden and Sami al-Saadi cases 'show double standards'
Activist contrasts HK's sticking to rules for NSA leaker with abrogation of them for dissident
Both men were trapped in the same city, and both were hunted by the CIA while seeking a safe haven.
Edward Snowden and Sami al-Saadi came to Hong Kong not knowing what awaited them. But their lives took very different paths once they set foot in Chep Lap Kok airport.
Snowden, a former American spy, escaped the clutches of US justice because Hong Kong was a stickler for the absolute letter of the law. The national security leaker found safe passage to Moscow and avoided extradition to the United States.
Libyan dissident Saadi was forced onto a secret rendition flight to his home country, along with his young family, with a flagrant disregard for due process. Saadi was delivered into the hands of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose henchmen tortured him for years.
While the global political backdrop to the cases was markedly different, the stark contrast in the way they were treated has led a global human rights campaigner to accuse Hong Kong of double standards.
"The treatment of Edward Snowden highlights the mistreatment of Sami al-Saadi and it is damaging to Hong Kong's claims to fairness, due process and democracy," said Agnes Callamard, executive director of Article 19, a London-based human rights organisation that advocates freedom of expression and information.