German NSA Critic Denied Entry To the US

An anonymous reader writes "Major newspapers in Germany (FAZ, Die Welt, SZ, ...) and the Huffington Post report that the author Ilja Trojanow has been prevented from boarding a plane from Salvador da Bahia to the U.S. where he was invited to attend a conference. He had ESTA documents showing that his visit was approved as part of the Visa Waiver Program and was last year given a visa to teach at the university of Saint Louis. Trojanow was one of the initiators of an open letter (Google translation to English) urging Chancellor Merkel to take actions against NSA surveillance in Germany."

Comments

Sigh ...

[hweimer]

... the story only shows that German media outlets are not familiar with US entry regulations. He says that he was denied a visa last year, which automatically disqualifies him from the visa waiver program. This is just a garden-variety ESTA issue, and most likely has nothing to do with his stance of the NSA surveillance.

Untrue the visa was given afterward

[aepervius]

"Schon vergangenes Jahr hatte das amerikanische Konsulat in München meinen Antrag auf ein Arbeitsvisum zum Zwecke einer Gastprofessur an der Washington University in St. Louis zuerst negativ beschieden und erst nach Protesten der UniversitÃt und einer erheblichen VerzÃgerung, die einen Teil des Semesters nutzlos vergehen lieÃY, das Visum erteilt"

Already last year had firstly denied the american consulat in Munic the request for work visa as guest professor in university st louis, and only after protest of the university et delay , with which made a part of the semester useless , gave the visa.

Therefore this is all US BS.

Re:Remember all those times Bush blocked...

[Hatta]

Adam Habib was denied entrance in 2006.

Mr. Habib, a well-known South African scholar who has criticized the war in Iraq, was denied a visa by the U.S. government in a letter saying he âoeengaged in a terrorist activity,â an accusation Mr. Habib has vigorously denied.

Re:Wrong and Missing the Point

[dywolf]

a country is soveriegn and its right to refuse access to any non-citizen is absolute.
this cannot really be argued, and i wont really argue against that concept.

however, this case isn't really about that.
this is man who has in the past been allowed to come and speak, indeed he was doing it again. and he happens to be critical of the NSA and its spying, and he has influence (apparently) in his home country, and so called on his governemtn to call the US on their NSA spying of the entire internet and say "wtf, eh?!"

so while the right to deny access is absolute, the reasons behind this particular case being denied at this particular time, when he hasnt been int he past, are very VERY suspect, and ultimately likely intended to silence dissent and criticism. and THAT is something i can and will argue against: the willful exclusion of dissenting voices, when many of those same voices already exist inside our borders, the willful exlcusion of an intelligent man here to speak on that very topic, etc. that isnt right, and is an attempt at damage control, at keeping the dissent within from spreading. that aint right.