Snowden receives German award for civic courage

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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.

Cameron threatens British media that publishes Snowden leaks

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British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a veiled threat against Guardian and other media organizations, calling them to stop publishing the reveals leaked by former CIA employee Edward Snowden.

Mr Cameron said that UK lawmakers have not yet been “heavy handed,” but if media does not stop such publications soon the government may employ D-Notices, official requests asking editors not to publish news items for national security reasons.
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Full Update: US Senate bill authorizes sanctions on Russia or any other country offering Snowden asylum

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US sanctions against any country offering asylum to Edward Snowden are unanimously approved in Congress by voice vote as an amendment to next year’s $50.6 billion diplomacy and international aid bill.

The measure introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham demands the State Department coordinate with lawmakers on setting penalties against nations that seek to help Snowden avoid extradition to the United States, where authorities want him prosecuted for revealing details of the government’s massive surveillance system, according to the Washington Post.

"I don’t know if he’s getting a change of clothes. I don’t know if he’s going to stay in Russia forever. I don’t know where he’s going to go," Graham said. "But I know this: That the right thing to do is to send him back home so he can face charges for the crimes he’s allegedly committed."

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President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" Over Snowden

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"One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
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Snowden’s revelations just tip of NSA spy scandal iceberg

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Like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden is a media-trumpeted whistleblower hero. Like Assange, Snowden has striking, TV-star good looks. Like Assange, Snowden is involved in a dramatic TV-style chase across countries and continents.

It's almost like Assange and Snowden are starring in their own reality-TV shows. 

With all the hoopla about Snowden (and before him, Assange), it's easy to forget all of the other whistleblowers who have revealed even more explosive information. 

Consider two other NSA whistleblowers: Russ Tice and James Bamford. 

Russ Tice is a former NSA intelligence analyst who has also worked for the US Air Force, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was a real US intelligence insider, many pay grades above rookie contractor Edward Snowden. 

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Snowden, Obama, Ecuador Updates: Russia did not invite Snowden, Obama will not intercept plane

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Russia did not invite Edward Snowden onto Russian territory. This was announced on Thursday by the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Former CIA officer and NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed the details of secret U.S. intelligence spying programs, fled from the U.S. to Hong Kong, and on June 23, flew to Moscow intending to move onward to Havana.

Currently he is in the transit area of Sheremetyevo international airport, pending a decision by Ecuador from which he has asked for political asylum.

Kislyak does not believe that the problem of Snowden, who did not cross the border into Russia, could complicate relations between Moscow and Washington.

Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama said he "would not use fighter jets to intercept the plane with Snowden, wherever he was going."

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FULL UPDATE: Snowden On the run to 'third country' via Moscow. (PHOTOS)

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Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee charged with espionage in the United States, is flying to Cuba via Moscow. A source with the Aeroflot airlines confirmed that the a man named Snowden was listed among passengers of Flight Su213 bound for Moscow. According to the source, the same passenger is to leave for Cuba on June 24 aboard Aeroflot Flight SU150.

Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee charged with espionage in the United States, is flying to Cuba via Moscow, a source close to Snowden said.

"He has departed on a direct flight for Moscow and will be there in the evening. But he will not stay in Moscow long. He discussed an option of further transit to Cuba," the source added.

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Snowden leaves Hong Kong on Aeroflot flight to Moscow

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US whistleblower Edward Snowden is en route to Moscow from Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight, reports AFP.

Former US intelligence technician Edward Snowden is en route from Hong Kong to Moscow heading to a third destination, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday.

"US whistleblower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, credible sources have confirmed to the South China Morning Post," the newspaper, which has carried exclusive interviews with Snowden in Hong Kong, said in a brief report on its website.

"Moscow will not be his final destination," it said, raising the possibility of Iceland or Ecuador as Snowden's final destination.

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Britain urges airlines not to allow NSA leaker Edward Snowden ( True Hero) to board flights to UK

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The UK government has issued a statement, urging airlines around the world not to allow US whistleblower Edward Snowden to board flights to Great Britain.

The document, released Monday, said carriers should deny Snowden boarding because he is most likely to be refused entry to the UK.  Any airline that allows the American ex-spy on board of its plane flying into Britain, will be fined 2,000 British pounds. Edward Snowden provided detailed information about a wide-reaching National Security Agency Internet surveillance program to journalists and then revealed his own identity voluntarily.

Until three weeks ago, Snowden worked at an NSA office in Hawaii. On May 20 he left Hawaii for Hong Kong where, according to him, “he would be in a place that might be able to resist US prosecution attempts”.

RT
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Snowden My Hero: Russia to Consider political asylum for Edward Snowden if he files request

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Russian authorities have promised to join the ranks of those willing to consider giving Snowden political asylum, if he files a formal request, Kommersant newspaper reports citing a Kremlin spokesman on Tuesday. 

“If we receive such a request, we will consider it,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted.

The whereabouts of whistleblower Edward Snowden were shrouded in mystery on Monday as US lawmakers demanded his immediate extradition from Hong Kong over his sensational leaking of an Internet surveillance program.

Snowden, a 29-year-old technology expert working for a private firm subcontracted to the US National Security Agency, checked out of his Hong Kong hotel after revealing his identity to the British-based Guardian newspaper on Sunday.

The private contractor has become an instant hero for transparency advocates and libertarians around the globe following his exposure of the NSA's worldwide monitoring of private users web traffic and phone records.