RSS Feed
June 5th, 2015 
David Schulberg A lot has changed in the two years since Edward Snowden decided to let the world know about the NSA’s illegal activities, ranging from the mass collection of surveillance data, to tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phones.
Despite having his world
turned upside down, Snowden says he has no regrets about the life
changing decision he made on June 5, 2013.
“It was a stressful time being in that hotel room I have to
say, but it has been incredibly rewarding and incredibly
gratifying. I have lost a lot of things. I can no longer live in
my home. I can no longer go to my work and see my
colleagues,” Snowden said in a video link-up with Amnesty International, from
Russia, where he has claimed asylum.
2yrs after #Snowden
revelat’ns, govts fail to heed calls to end mass #surveillancehttp://t.co/Y0ss1AK2EF#UnfollowMepic.twitter.com/On6r8lbtgq
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) June 5,
2015
“On the other hand, the things that I have received
personally and that we have all benefitted from publically, make
it all worth it,” he added.
While governments across the globe have rushed to push through
legislation to cap the power of surveillance agencies, whose
programs were revealed by the former NSA contactor, Snowden still
faces the prospect of 30 years in jail on espionage charges,
should he ever set foot on US soil.
The practice of harvesting personal data in bulk was declared
illegal by US courts in May, and the Senate failed to renew the
Patriot Act, which included the infamous Section 215, authorizing
bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data.
Writing a piece for the New York Times, Snowden said: “After a
White House-appointed oversight board investigation found that
this program had not stopped a single terrorist attack, even the
president who once defended its propriety and criticized its
disclosure has now ordered it terminated.”
During a White House press briefing on Monday, White House Press
Secretary Josh Earnest was asked if it was time for the White
House to “reassess the persecution” of Snowden.
READ MORE: Obama administration still wants to
prosecute Snowden despite surveillance debate
“It’s not,” Earnest told reporters. “The fact is
that Mr. Snowden committed very serious crimes. The US government
and the Department of Justice believe that he should face
them.”
“That’s why we believe Mr. Snowden should return to the
United States, and he will have the opportunity, if he were to
return to the United States, to make that case in a court of
law,” said Earnest. “But, obviously, our view on this is
that he committed and is accused of very serious crimes.”
A Russian lawyer for Snowden said in March that the former NSA
employee was in discussions to return to the United States.
Snowden has demanded assurances that he would receive a fair
trial and be permitted to use a so-called
“whistleblower” defense.
2 years since the 1st of Snowden’s revelations – Need to
protect whistleblowers like him http://t.co/e9fAjhGZid pic.twitter.com/w4WltrgnnS
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) June 5,
2015
Meanwhile, Matteo Bergamini, the Founder and Director of an
independent news network ShoutoutUK said Snowden’s revelations
were completely unexpected.
“I think the biggest achievement was that it told us
something that we had no idea was happening – the mass collection
of our data. It informed the British people about what was going
on and it made it clear what our government intentions
were,” Bergamini told RT.
“It was a massive overreaction. All he did was tell the truth
and if that is what the US does to people who tell the truth, I
shudder to think what could happen next,” he added.
Bergamini says he is in favor of small amounts of data collection
taking place, however he is adamant the NSA and other
surveillance agencies went too far, saying it would be similar to
if “the government confiscated everyone’s letters, just
because someone might have something illegal in there.”
READ MORE: Obama: ‘We have to twist arms when
countries don’t do what we need them to’
“The government does
not want to have a debate about this. We are supposed to live in
a democracy, Americans are supposed to live in a democracy, so
how can we justify that if we don’t have a proper debate about
these sort of things,” he concluded.
In April, German media reported that over the past decade, the
BND has helped the NSA in spying all over Europe. The US agency
sent its German colleagues so-called “selectors”, which
included IP addresses, emails, and phone numbers indicating what
targets were to be spied on.
Snowden’s revelations revealed that the BND had been providing
the NSA with data for around a decade, while the German spy chief
Gerhard Schindler said, “We are dependent on the NSA, not the
other way round,” the spy chief said, as quoted by Der
Spiegel, adding that without the NSA’s presence on German soil,
the BND would be rendered useless.
The scandal led to the BND pulling the plug on cooperation with
the NSA.
Source Article from http://rt.com/news/265297-snowden-second-anniversary-leaks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Snowden still on the lam 2 years after blowing whistle on illegal NSA activities
http://rt.com/news/265297-snowden-second-anniversary-leaks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
http://rt.com/rss/news/
RT – News
RT : News
http://rt.com/static/img/RT_logo_250x250.png
Views: 0
Posted in 
