Glenn Greenwald on Hong Kong's key role in Snowden's NSA document leak

Hong Kong's "brazen" defiance in the face of US attempts to extradite fugitive whistle-blower Edward Snowden was pivotal in shaping the global reaction to one of the biggest government leaks in modern American history, said a journalist instrumental in breaking the story.

A month before the first anniversary of Snowden's arrival in Hong Kong, Glenn Greenwald - one of the reporters who broke a series of stories based on a cache of classified documents leaked by the former NSA contractor - told the Sunday Morning Post that the Hong Kong government's refusal to honour an extradition request from the United States was one of his "favourite moments" in the past 11 months.

Watch: Glenn Greenwald spoke with The Post about Snowden saga in 2013

Two hours after Snowden, 30, flew out of the city bound for Moscow on June 23 last year, the Hong Kong government released a statement accusing Washington of failing to provide basic details, such as the whistle-blower's middle name.