Families who sheltered fugitive Snowden looking for fast-track asylum to Canada
MONTREAL — The families who sheltered U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden in Hong Kong need to be brought to Canada immediately while the country processes their asylum claims, their lawyers said Monday.
Hong Kong-based attorney Robert Tibbo said Canada needs to take this “exceptional” step and allow the seven people to enter the country after the Hong Kong government rejected their asylum applications last Friday.
The seven people — four adults and their three children — allegedly helped hide Snowden when the fugitive was in the region in 2013 after he leaked documents revealing extensive U.S. government surveillance.
They were put in contact with Snowden because they share Tibbo as a lawyer.