Organizations launch campaign seeking presidential pardon for Snowden

Several prominent organizations launched a campaign Wednesday seeking a presidential pardon for American former intelligence analyst turned mass surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is charged in the United States with theft of government property and violations of the 1917 Espionage Act.

"I think it's no exaggeration to say this man changed the world," Naureen Shah, the director of Amnesty International USA's Security and Human Rights Program, said at a press conference in New York to announce the Pardon Snowden initiative.

Snowden, who worked for a National Security Agency subcontractor, gained global attention in 2013 when he provided evidence that Washington was monitoring the telephonic and online communications of millions of people around the world.

Those disclosures to three journalists forced the United States to review its procedures and laws governing surveillance.

"I love my country. I love my family (...) I don't know what tomorrow looks like. But I'm glad for the decisions I've made. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined, three years ago, such an outpouring of solidarity," Snowden said via video link from Russia during the press conference.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union launched the campaign to urge President Obama to issue the pardon before he leaves office in January.

The initiative also has the backing of legal experts and high-profile business leaders and celebrities including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Danny Glover.

"It is indisputable that our democracy is better off thanks to Snowden, and it's precisely for cases like his that the pardon power exists," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.

Under U.S. law, the president can issue a pardon even before its beneficiary has been convicted of a crime.

The campaign coincides with the release of the Oliver Stone film "Snowden," which the former intelligence contractor said would raise awareness about his disclosures and the worldwide debate it sparked.

Source: EFE

Whistleblower Snowden hints Russia behind US National Security Agency hacking

The ex-United States National Security Agency operative who was responsible for the largest-ever leak of top-secret intelligence files has hinted Russia could have been behind a possible cyberattack on the American agency.

Edward Snowden, who was granted political asylum in Russia, said there was evidence to suggest NSA servers were the victims of a Russian-inspired malware attack.

Source: EFE

Noruega rejeita demanda de Snowden para impedir extradição aos EUA

O tribunal de primeira instância de Oslo desprezou nesta segunda-feira a demanda interposta pelo ex-analista da CIA Edward Snowden contra o Estado norueguês para poder viajar para este país nórdico em novembro para receber um prêmio outorgado pelo Pen Clube sem risco de ser extraditado aos Estados Unidos.

O juiz responsável aceitou os argumentos da Procuradoria do Estado de que o tribunal não pode se ocupar do caso enquanto não exista uma solicitação formal de extradição contra Snowden, que desfruta de asilo político na Rússia.

O Pen Clube norueguês outorgou em março a Snowden o prêmio Ossietzsky, que será entregue em 18 de novembro na Universidade de Oslo, por seu trabalho a favor da liberdade de expressão.

Na demanda apresentada em abril esta associação de escritores, que exerce apoio jurídico ao ex-analista, sustentava que os atos de Snowden, a quem os Estados Unidos acusam de revelar segredos de Estado, são "claramente de caráter políticos, e de acordo com o direito internacional e as leis norueguesas, ele não pode ser extraditado.

A também norueguesa Academia Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson já tentou no ano passado levar Snowden a este país nórdico, porque foi agraciado com um prêmio de direitos humanos, mas o governo não quis garantir que não seria extraditado.

Snowden chegou a Moscou em junho de 2013 procedente de Hong Kong e recebeu em 2014 uma permissão de residência na Rússia para um prazo de três anos.

Fonte: EFE