Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize

BRUSSELS | Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:27am EDT

(Reuters) - Fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden is in the running for a European human rights prize whose past winners include Nelson Mandela and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Snowden, who is in hiding in Russia, is one of seven nominations made by members of the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, a move likely to upset Washington which wants to try him on espionage charges.

Snowden was nominated by the Greens in the European Parliament who said he had done an "enormous service" for human rights and European citizens by disclosing secret U.S. Internet and telephone surveillance programs.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-eu-snowden-idUSBRE98G0FY20130917

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1. If I were him I would stay in lovely Russia.

Fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden is in the running for a European human rights prize whose past winners include Nelson Mandela and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Snowden, who is in hiding in Russia, is one of seven nominations made by members of the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, a move likely to upset Washington which wants to try him on espionage charges.

Snowden was nominated by the Greens in the European Parliament who said he had done an "enormous service" for human rights
and European citizens by disclosing secret U.S. Internet and telephone surveillance programs.

It appears that Snowden is become a human rights icon.

If I were him I would stay in lovely Russia.

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2. Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize

Edward Snowden was an employee of the National Security Agency (NSA). He held a position that gave him clearance and is supposed to have been a reliable employee.

One day he disappeared with no advise. He boarded a flight to Hong Kong with a connection to Moscow. There he was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself!!

Snowden then decided to make public a large number of NSA top-security documents, evidently to embarrass the NSA and the U.S. Government. Snowden emphasized documents that illustrate the use of signals interception to amass a large cache of documents that he would make public to embarrass the U.S.Government. Among those he emphasized the use by the NSA to catch communications for the purpose of spying. Already Brazil and Mexico have complained. The U.S. has dismissed the accusations by claiming that most countries engage in this practice.

Edward Snowden claims to be a champion of human rights. He says he hates America but no specific reason is given.

The Snowden case has gained notoriety worldwide. There is a wide variety of groups throughout the world that hasten to elevate Snowden as nothing less than a hero. Meanwhile, Snowden has continued to publish further U.S. and NSA documents.