PRISM: Snowden seeks Ecuador asylum and flees to Russia after US extradition filing

Edward Snowden, the former CIA IT contractor who revealed the PRISM scandal that has embroiled the political and technology worlds over the last two weeks, has asked Ecuador for extradition, following WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in using the country to hide from the US authorities.

Snowden had been in Hong Kong but after the US began proceedings for an extradition he made moves to flee the country, firstly by heading to Moscow.
It is unclear exactly where Snowden is now as some reports said he was heading for Cuba, but Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, confirmed on Twitter that an asylum request had been received.
The plan was also confirmed by another thorn in the US’s side, Wikileaks, which said it was helping Snowden with his plan.
“[Snowden] is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks,” read a statement on the WikiLeaks website.
Hong Kong authorities were said to have turned down the original US extradition request they received as it was incomplete, according to numerous sources, while the US Justice Department said it would continue to pursue Snowden regardless of where he is heading.
"We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr Snowden may be attempting to travel," the department said in a statement, according to the BBC.
Snowden’s revelations led to headlines around the world after he claimed the US government was monitoring the data of millions of citizens by having access to the servers of technology giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft.
These firms rushed to deny the claims and have pushed for greater transparency. Google has since filed a legal case to demand the right to reveal more information on the data it is required to hand to the authorities under US law. President Obama has claimed the entire process is ‘transparent’ but critics have rounded on the PRISM.
The UK has been embroiled too, with claims its spy post GCHQ uses the PRISM programme to access data itself, thereby circumventing UK law. The UK government has denied all these claims.
The case has echoes of the WikiLeaks scandal, which saw founder Julian Assange seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden. Assange remains holed up in the assembly, with no end to the situation in sight.