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 highprofile business leaders and celebrities including Apple cofounder 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.