Snowden Shortlisted for Human Rights Award in EU

As you know, the American government regards Edward Snowden as a traitor who exposed its abysmal treatment of its own people, while in the EU Edward has been shortlisted for the Sakharov prize.


Indeed, it turned out that Edward Snowden, the fugitive US former intelligence worker, has made the shortlist of three for the top human rights award in Europe. Media reports revealed that he was nominated by Green politicians in the EU Parliament for leaking details of NSA surveillance.

In the meantime, it seems that Snowden wasn’t suffering as much for his deeds as other nominees did. The other two nominees are Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, a teenager who was shot in the head for demanding education for girls, and a group of Belarusian political dissidents who were jailed three years ago for protesting against the disputed re-election of President Lukashenko. For Snowden, this looks like tough competition from people who really suffered for their stands for human rights.

The Sakharov prize was given earlier by the European Parliament to Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. The Parliament’s Green group claimed that Snowden’s nomination meant his whistleblowing was an “enormous service” to human rights and European citizens. The prize for freedom of thought is awarded annually in memory of Andrey Sakharov, a scientist and dissident from the USSR. The winner of this year prize will be announced in October.