US whistleblower Edward Snowden, former contractor for the US National Security Agency now residing in Russia, received a symbolic award for civic courage from the Humanist Union non-governmental organization, Germany's Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) reported citing Werner Koep-Kerstin, the head of the organization.
Ex-NSA and CIA serviceman Edward Snowden has been awarded a Fritz Bauer Prize in Germany. Fritz Bauer was a German prosecutor and judge who played an important role in the so-called "Oswiecim trials" of former SS officers.
"Snowden showed outstanding civic courage by disclosing the practice of shadowing that violates human rights," Werner Koep-Kerstin, chairman of the Humanist Union which awarded the prize said in a published statement.
His revelations have reanimated the discussion of the principles of special service activities, the statement reads.
The Fritz Bauer Prize was established in 1968 and is awarded once in two years for outstanding merits in protecting human rights. Among the prize-winners are German ex-President Gustav Heinemann and writer, Nobel prizewinner in literature Gunter Grass.
The revelations sparked domestic controversy and strained relations between the US and its allies.
The US authorities have rejected claims that Snowden was a whistleblower, insisting that he had committed crimes and had to stand trial at home. They charged Snowden with espionage and revoked his passport.
The 30-year-old has been residing in Russia for nearly a year now, after local authorities granted him temporary asylum, which he sought in 21 countries. Snowdena??s hopes to extend the asylum after it expires in August.
New truth-teller defense fund launched in Germany by Snowden supporters
Courage, a new defense fund for whistleblowers and truth-tellers like former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, has been launched late on Wednesday at an official ceremony in Berlin, Germany.
Sarah Harrison, a rights activist and WikiLeaks employee who helped Edward Snowden flee Hong Kong and spent 40 days with him in the transit zone limbo at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, told RIA Novosti the initial funds were raised by a small foundation called the Journalistic Source Protection Defense Fund (JSPDF).
Harrison said JSPDF had been reorganized into Courage that would continue supporting journalists' sources.
US whistleblower Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks' co-founder Julian Assange both gave televised speeches at the launch.
Snowden, who blew the lid off NSA's global surveillance program, spoke from his hideout in Russia, saying the information that people like him shared with public was extremely important and thanked everyone for their support.
Assange, a Courage trustee and a journalist best known as the editor-in-chief of the whistleblower site WikiLeaks who has been stranded at the Ecuador embassy in London, in his speech raised awareness of risks faced by journalists' sources and urged to give them better protection.
He cited the story of Chelsea (born Bradley) Manning, a US soldier who leaked secret files revealing a deadly US helicopter attack on Iraqi civilians in 2007.
The whistleblowing trio 'Snowden, Assange and Manning ' have become figureheads of a campaign to raise awareness of US human rights violations, including massive wiretapping programs, unjustified killings in Iraq and Afghanistan, and breaches of public's right to access information. Edward Snowden is Courage's first beneficiary.
The launch comes a year after he revealed himself as the source of NSA leaks on the PRISM data scooping program, and was forced to seek a temporary asylum in Russia.
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