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.
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Speaking by video link from Moscow, where he has been in exile since 2013, Snowden said that while the Founding Fathers created checks and balances to guard against government abuses, “whistleblowers, acting in the public interest, often at great risk to themselves, are another check on those abuses of power, especially through their collaboration with journalists”. That’s the central take-away from Oliver Stone’s surprisingly straightforward depiction of his subject, played with necessary conviction by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is smaller and more wiry than the real deal.
Snowden, who some view as a civil liberties hero and others see as a traitor, believes he deserves a pardon from President Barack Obama before he leaves office.
There is no indication that President Obama will grant the pardon.
“Edward Snowden’s case presents one for President Obama to use the presidential power of pardon proudly and unequivocally, in recognition of one of the most important acts of whistleblowing in modern history”, Romero said. “That is not what Mr Snowden did”. In 2013, the former contractor released classified information about the United States government’s surveillance policies, according to The New York Times.
“We do think there’s a chance”, said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, adding that Snowden’s revelations have had an worldwide impact.
But the White House quickly said it had no intention of pardoning Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency who released thousands of classified documents in 2013 revealing the vast U.S. surveillance put in place after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The full list of Pardon Snowden supporters is here (including a surprising number of literary lights I’m sure most people aren’t familiar with, although they should be, like Marie Howe, Sam Lipsyte, Anne Carson.). “He is accused of leaking classified information and there is no question his actions have inflicted serious harms on our national security”.
In a videoconference yesterday, Snowden reiterated that he could not receive a fair trial in the United States under the Espionage Act.
You can watch him say those things-and a few other things-below.
“It’s worth being optimistic about all those things, but it’s also probably worth paying attention and considering what might the downsides be of this new technology that we’re inheriting”, he says. “And no one should be in a position to make these kinds of decisions, that’s not the kind of place we’re supposed to be”.
“With increasing terrorist attacks, security is critical, but not without any accountability or oversight”, Gabriel said in a statement. The ACLU provides legal representation for Snowden.
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Snowden worked contractually with the C.I.A. when he first ran into trouble with federal law. “Obviously, he’d love to go back home”, Harrison told AFP last week.
