Ο Edward Snowden he is a patriot according to ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union or Union for the Freedom of American Citizens).
The whistleblower who has been sanctioned and kept secret by the US legislative, executive, and judicial authority has taken a great personal risk for the common good. In its own way, it reopened a global debate on the extent and nature of government interceptions and the most fundamental individual rights.
On Monday, the court ruling declaring the NSA's surveillance program unconstitutional highlights the irony of Snowden's persecution by the government. For more than 12 years, the ACLU states its concerns about the massive changes that take place in democracy: the sealing of the powers of expansive surveillance by the judiciary, the illegal nature of programs that invade the rights and lives of millions of people with substance no supervision, and calm acceptance by an audience who believes they have nothing to fear if they do not do anything illegal.
This, of course, was the fictitious truth until Snowden awoke not only the American people, but the whole world, from a stupid lethargy. For his actions, Snowden should be welcomed and not be mocked, as is the case at this time. He should be granted full immunity from prosecution and should be allowed to continue his life in the United States as a proud American citizen.
Many of Snowden's arguments are unlikely.
Πολλοί παρατηρητές σημειώνουν ότι ο Snowden αποκάλυψε σημαντικά γεγονότα, αλλά αναρωτιούνται γιατί πήρε την ευθύνη να αποδώσει τις αποδείξεις του στους δημοσιογράφους και όχι στο Κογκρέσο ή την εκτελεστική εξουσία. Η απάντηση είναι απλή: ο Snowden ήταν πολύ έξυπνος και δεν περίμενε χειροπιαστά αποτελέσματα από τους “επίσημους” οδούς. Από τις 11 Σεπτεμβρίου του 2001, το Κογκρέσο και τα δικαστήρια έχουν αποτύχει παταγωδώς στην παροχή συνταγματική εποπτείας. Όταν η New York Times τελικά βρήκε το θάρρος να εκθέσει το προηγούμενο κατασκοπευτικό πρόγραμμα της NSA το 2005, το Κογκρέσο απάντησε νομιμοποιώντας το παράνομο πρόγραμμα μέσω του FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Τα δικαστήρια αποδείχθηκαν λίγο απρόθυμα να για ένα ουσιαστικό έλεγχο των προγραμμάτων επιτήρησης. Σε δύο διαφορετικές αγωγές που άσκησε η ACLU – μια στο Ντιτρόιτ και μια στη Νέα Υόρκη, και έφτασαν μέχρι το Ανώτατο Δικαστήριο των ΗΠΑ – δεν είχαν αποτέλεσμα επειδή ήταν αδύνατο να αποδειχθούν τα μυστικά προγράμματα επιτήρησης της κυβέρνησης. Χωρίς αυτές τις αποδείξεις, τις οποίες παρεμπιπτόντως η κυβέρνηση δεν επρόκειτο να δώσει, κανένας Αμερικανός δεν είναι σε θέση να αμφισβητήσει τις αποφάσεις των Δικαστηρίων. Σήμερα όμως οι αποδείξεις υπάρχουν μέσω του Snowden.
A second argument against immunity states: “He was employed by the government and knew he was breaking the law. He should have stayed home and faced the consequences if his reasons for doing so were truly benevolent. . ". If Snowden had stayed in Hawaii after his first revelation, the government would have arrested him the same day. The laws used for people like Snowden do not distinguish between patriotic whistleblowers and foreign agents. If the government had managed to imprison him the information they would stop surfacing. Snowden would certainly have been subject to "special administrative measures" and banned plus t others or any contact with journalists. Snowden knew he could not stay in the US and start public revelations.
A third argument – often mentioned in the press and specifically in the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal – questions the authenticity of Snowden's motivations by looking at the countries in which he found refuge. If Snowden were so real e.gWeb in the republic, he never had to travel to China or Russia. This argument fails to recognize the enormous power of the US government to interfere with the decisions of other governments to recover fugitives (and more). Remember that the American government through the efforts of President Obama and Secretary Kerry did everything to ensure that Snowden would not find any other door, except the doors of the American federal guards. Even countries that had expressed outrage over the NSA's surveillance actions, such as Germany, Brazil and Mexico, ultimately did not grant Snowden political asylum. Their hypocrisy and capitulation to American diplomacy, placed Snowden on the opposite side, without asylum leaving him few alternatives solutions. One of them was asylum in Russia to avoid US prisons.
Edward Snowden is a great American and a true patriot. ACLU's employees are proud to be their legal advisors. They are committed to helping him with all the legal issues he can face.
Patriots like him, who are willing to endure personal sacrifices to defend a truth that some consider self-evident and given, there are not many.
