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Where can an American go to avoid being extradited back to the US?

Edward Snowden, the contractor identified as the source of leaks about the US electronic surveillance program, may face extradition to the US wherever he goes. Here are six places that have proven that extradition to the US isn't easy.

6. Iceland

When Snowden came forward, he named Iceland as a possible haven should the US government try to extradite him. Indeed, some Icelanders would welcome him gladly.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of Iceland’s parliament, issued a statement expressing her interest in helping Snowden.

The bad news for Snowden is that Ms. Jónsdóttir is a member of the opposition Pirate Party, which champions media freedoms, but that only has a handful of seats in an otherwise conservative government. Moreover, in order to seek asylum, Snowden would have to start the application in Iceland, which is not easy to get to from Hong Kong without stopping somewhere else along the way.

And though Jónsdóttir and others say they would want to honor Iceland’s history of protecting dissidents such as Wikileaks and Bobby Fischer, others in Iceland might not want to run the risk of angering the US, Iceland’s largest trading partner.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

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