Snowden nominated for EU's Sakharov prize

 

Green and left-wing lawmakers on Wednesday nominated US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.

Snowden, who has sought asylum in Russia, "deserves to be honoured for shedding light on the systematic infringements of civil liberties by US and European secret services," leaders of the parliament's Greens group Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms said in a statement.

"Snowden has risked his freedom to help us protect ours," they added.

The European United Left/Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament also nominated Snowden for the 2013 prize, saying "whistleblowers cannot be treated like criminals, they must have our protection."

He "risked his life to confirm what we had long suspected regarding mass online surveillance, a major scandal of our times," the group said.

The winner of the prize will be announced in October.

Last year's award went to detained Iranians, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film-maker Jafar Panahi, to honour those "standing up for a better Iran."

Past winners of the 50,000-euro ($65,000) prize include South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.

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Ron Paul Launches Clemency Petition For Edward Snowden

Former Congressman Ron Paul has launched a petition to attempt to garner clemency for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The "Demand Clemency for Edward Snowden" petition includes the clip below, Paul calls on supporters to sign the petition in an attempt to bring Snowden home to the US safely before his temporary visa in Russia expires in July.

On the heels of his son Rand Paul's lawsuit against the Obama nd the NSA seeking to stop its collection of phone metadata, Ron Paul states "Edward Snowden shocked the world when he exposed the NSA’s illegal and abusive spying program. Instead of applauding him for his bravery and patriotism, the U.S. government labels Snowden a traitor."

By signing this petition, Paul notes on his Channel's website, "you are telling the US government that Mr. Snowden deserves the right to come home without the fear of persecution or imprisonment."

Ron Paul Launches Clemency Petition For Edward Snowden | Zero Hedge

 

Sakharov?...Sweet.................