Icelandic Lawmaker Ready To Help NSA Whistleblower Seek Asylum

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An Icelandic lawmaker said Sunday that she’s prepared to help whistleblower Edward Snowden seek asylum in that country, Forbes reported.

Member of parliament Birgitta Jonsdottir and Smari McCarthy, executive director of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, professed their support for Snowden in a statement issued Sunday night and published by Forbes. It wouldn’t be the first time Jonsdottir has moved to protect a whistleblower — the Pirate Party legislator has a previous working relationship with Wikileaks.

“Whereas IMMI is based in Iceland, and has worked on protections of privacy, furtherance of government transparency, and the protection of whistleblowers, we feel it is our duty to offer to assist and advise Mr. Snowden to the greatest of our ability,” the statement read. “We are already working on detailing the legal protocols required to apply for asylum, and will over the course of the week be seeking a meeting with the newly appointed interior minister of Iceland, Mrs. Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, to discuss whether an asylum request can be processed in a swift manner, should such an application be made.”

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