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September 17, 2013

Whistleblower Edward Snowden nominated for European rights prize

Leaders of the Greens party said he has provided an "enormous service."

By Duncan Macrae

Fugitive and former CIA employee, Edward Snowden, has been nominated for a European human rights award.

Snowden, who is seeking asylum in Russia, is one of seven nominations made by members of the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought.

The other nominees include Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a critic of President Vladimir Putin who has been convicted of fraud, tax evasion and money-laundering; and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban last year for demanding education for girls.

Snowden’s nomination came from the Greens in the European Parliament, declairing he had prodived an "enormous service" for European citizens and human rights by leaking details of the USA’s clandestine surveillance programme, PRISM.

Dany Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms, the leaders of the Greens, said in a joint statement: "Edward Snowden has risked his freedom to help us protect ours and he deserves to be honoured for shedding light on the systematic infringements of civil liberties by US and European secret services."

The European Parliament’s committees are due to vote on a shortlist of three finalists on September 30, with the winner to be chosen by parliamentary leaders on October 10.

Previous winners include Nelson Mandela and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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