Extradition: How will the US get Edward Snowden out of Hong Kong? (+video)

The United States Government has charged Edward Snowden under the US Espionage Act for leaking details about top secret National Security Agency surveillance programs.

Now comes the hard part: Getting Mr. Snowden out of Hong Kong, where he’s believed to be hiding out, and into the US court system before he can find refuge in a country willing to provide him with asylum.

Snowden faces three felonies, according to a one-page criminal complaint unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

He is charged with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information, and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person. The latter two offenses fall under the US Espionage Act and can bring up to 10 years in prison.

But since he was last seen staying in a luxury hotel in Hong Kong – where he fully admitted revealing NSA secrets in a videotaped interview with the British Guardian newspaper – Snowden’s whereabouts have been unknown, although there’s no indication that he’s left Hong Kong.

According to various reports, supporters – including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – have been trying to make arrangements for Snowden to find legal refuge in Iceland.

It’s also being widely reported that extraditing Snowden from Hong Kong could involve a long and complicated legal process, even though the US has an extradition treaty with Hong Kong.

The US and Hong Kong have had an extradition treaty since 1998, a year after Hong Kong was transferred from British to Chinese rule, the Guardian notes. While espionage and theft of state secrets are not cited specifically in the treaty, equivalent charges could be pressed against Snowden under Hong Kong's official secrets ordinance, legal experts told the newspaper.

Snowden could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution. In general, the extradition agreement between the US and Hong Kong excepts political offenses from the obligation to turn over a person, the Associated Press reports.

On Saturday, Hong Kong legislators said the Chinese government should make the final decision on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States, according to the AP. But it’s unclear whether Beijing would intervene under its “one-country, two-systems” policy with Hong Kong.

The recent experience of US Army Pfc. Bradley Manning – now in the midst of a court-martial for the largest leak of classified documents in US history – may color at least the public perception of Snowden’s case (and therefore the way authorities in China and any potential asylum-granting countries react). Critics say Pfc. Manning was held in solitary confinement and mistreated for months.

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