HONG KONG -- For Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has acknowledged leaking numerous documents about U.S. surveillance operations around the world, the path to a sudden departure from Hong Kong late Sunday began over a dinner days before of a large pizza, fried chicken and sausages, washed down with Pepsi.
Albert Ho, one of Snowden's lawyers, said that before the Tuesday night dinner began, Snowden insisted that everyone hide their cellphones in the refrigerator of the home where he was staying, to block any eavesdropping. Then began a two-hour conversation during which Snowden was deeply dismayed to learn that he could spend years in prison without access to a computer during litigation over whether he would be granted asylum here or surrendered to the United States, Ho said.
Staying cooped up in the cramped Hong Kong home of a local supporter was less bothersome to Snowden than the prospect of losing his computer.
"He didn't go out, he spent all his time inside a tiny space, but he said it was OK because he had his computer," Ho said. "If you were to deprive him of his computer, that would be totally intolerable."
The outcome of that meeting, Ho said, was a decision by Snowden to have Ho pose two questions to the Hong Kong government: Would he be released on bail if he were detained in Hong Kong at the request of the United States, and would the Hong Kong government interfere if Snowden tried to go to the airport and leave Hong Kong instead.
A person with detailed knowledge of the Hong Kong government's deliberations said that the government had been delighted to receive the questions. Leung Chun-ying, the chief executive, and his top advisers had been struggling through numerous meetings for days, canceling or postponing most other meetings, while trying to decide what to do in response to a U.S. request for Snowden's detention, even as public opinion in Hong Kong seemed to favor protecting the fugitive.
But Snowden's choice of Ho to represent him raised a problem, said the person knowledgeable about the government's deliberations, who insisted on anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivities in the case. Ho, a member of the territory's legislature for nearly 20 years, is a former chairman of the Democratic Party and a longtime campaigner for full democracy here, to the irritation of government leaders of the territory, which was returned by Britain to China in 1997.
"The Hong Kong government doesn't trust him," the person said, adding that the Hong Kong government also did not want to be involved in any direct negotiations with Snowden. So the government found an intermediary, someone with longstanding connections to the local government but not in office, to bypass Ho and contact Snowden through someone in the Hong Kong community who was helping Snowden.
The intermediary told Snowden Friday night that the government could not predict what Hong Kong's independent judiciary would do, but that serving jail time while awaiting trial was a possibility. The intermediary also said that the Hong Kong government would welcome Snowden's departure, Ho and the person who insisted on anonymity said. Both declined to identify the intermediary.
The Hong Kong government said that it would not interfere with Snowden's departure.
But, Ho said, Snowden went through the same security and immigration channels as most passengers at the airport, rather than a special channel usually used for people involved in highly political cases -- a sign that the Hong Kong government wanted to minimize its involvement in Snowden's departure.
At the same time, the Hong Kong government's encouragement for Snowden to leave, instead of a suggestion that he stay and fight any return to the United States, had persuaded him that staying was risky because the Hong Kong government might not be on his side. "He would not like to fight with the Hong Kong government, with the Chinese government and the U.S. government" against him, Ho said.
Ho said the disclosure late Friday evening of a sealed indictment against Snowden in the United States had prompted his client to become considerably more anxious about staying in Hong Kong, and the prospect of spending years in courtrooms or possibly jail as well.
"He wanted a simple life," Ho said.
Ho said if the Hong Kong government had not assured Snowden of safe passage to the airport and exit from the territory, his client intended to seek the advice of Stephen Young, the U.S. consul general here, whom Ho knows socially. But there was no clear plan on what to seek from Young, and the Hong Kong government's assurance of safe passage meant that this plan was never discussed in depth, Ho added.
Obama administration officials expressed profound annoyance on Sunday that Hong Kong let Snowden get away. But the person knowledgeable about the Hong Kong government's deliberations said that there was considerable annoyance in Hong Kong about Washington's handling of the case.
Ho said Snowden has not been working for any government other than his previous service for the United States.
"He believed he was doing the right thing, serving the people," Ho said, later adding that, "Certainly he is not a spy for anybody -- Russia, China."
The Hong Kong government stalled for time by telling the United States on Friday that it wanted more information to support the U.S. request for Snowden's detention. Obama administration officials complained Sunday that they were still working to provide Hong Kong with the information when Snowden was allowed to leave.
But the person familiar with Hong Kong's deliberations pointed out that when Hong Kong made its request Friday, it was still Thursday night in Washington. So the United States could in theory have sent more information by Saturday morning in Hong Kong, which would have required further review by the Hong Kong government. But the information was not immediately sent by the United States, the person said.
The Hong Kong and Chinese governments consulted very closely throughout Snowden's stay. But Beijing allowed Hong Kong officials to make their own decisions and then vetted them, instead of dictating decisions to Hong Kong, the person with knowledge of the deliberations said, adding that one of these decisions had been to let Snowden leave.
Snowden, who has just turned 30, comes across as intelligent, analytical and quick-witted, Ho said. But he also came to Hong Kong from Honolulu without a well thought-out plan, while overestimating how free he would be to move around Hong Kong after his disclosures and underestimating the public attention he would receive, Ho added.
"He's a kid, I really think he's a kid. I think he never anticipated this would be such a big matter in Hong Kong," Ho said, adding that, "He enjoys Pepsi, he prefers Pepsi to wine, that's why I say he's a kid."
Ho presented an image of Snowden that differed in some respects from the public image that he presented in a video released by The Guardian, a British newspaper, when Snowden first stepped forward to take responsibility for leaks of classified information about U.S. surveillance programs.
In the video, assembled over a period of days from various remarks made by Snowden, he appeared to have devised a clear plan of action together with a willingness to defy the United States.
But Ho described his client as someone with a vague sense of his legal options and a limited understanding, at least until the dinner over pizza last Tuesday, of his legal rights in Hong Kong. During the dinner, Ho said, "he came to a full grasp of the situation and better understanding of the reality."
Snowden strongly disliked the possibility that he might be held without bail in prison without access to a computer for long periods of time punctuated by numerous court appearances, Ho said, adding that "he was a loner, he didn't have much support until people like us" started giving legal advice.
When Snowden came to Hong Kong from Hawaii in late May, he looked up an individual whom he had met on a previous vacation here. That individual, whom Ho declined to identify by name but described as a well-connected Hong Kong resident, became Snowden's "carer." Snowden accepted an invitation to stay in the home of one of individual's friends when he checked out of the Mira Hotel on June 10, and the individual put him in touch with two local lawyers.
One is Robert Tibbo, a barrister who studied chemical engineering at McGill University in Canada and later decided to become a lawyer. The other is Jonathan Man, an associate at Ho, Tse, Wai, & Partners. It is one of Hong Kong's best-known law firms, where Ho is the senior partner.
Ho said he then met Snowden for the first time on the evening of the pizza dinner last Tuesday. Snowden wore a cap and sunglasses and came with a friend in a car that picked up Ho, Man and Tibbo.
Snowden said little until they had arrived at the friend's home, when he took Man aside, Ho said.
"He whispered to Jonathan, all the phones should be put in the refrigerator, the entire phones, and then he became very outspoken," Ho said.
To prove that Ho, Tse, Wai & Partners was representing Snowden, Ho showed a sheet of paper that appeared to have been signed by Snowden, complete with his U.S. passport number and an agreement, dated June 10, that Man and Ho would represent him. There was no countersignature from the law firm on the document. Ho said Man did not like to speak to the media and was not available for comment.
When Snowden went to the airport, he had a clear plan to reach another jurisdiction where he believed he could obtain asylum, partly from discussions with Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks activist who had come to Hong Kong and begun advising Snowden, Ho said. He declined to identify Snowden's final intended destination except to say that it was almost certainly not Iceland or Cuba and that Snowden intended only to pass in transit through Moscow's airport. He refused to discuss whether his destination was Ecuador.
By KEITH BRADSHER
The New York Times