Edward Snowden: American Hero

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 12:31pm

Seven years ago, as the news declared I was being charged as a criminal for speaking the truth, I never imagined that I would live to see our courts condemn the NSA's activities as unlawful and in the same ruling credit me for exposing them.

And yet that day has arrived. https://t.co/FRdG2zUA4U

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 2, 2020

How can this be any clearer?
The U.S. government broke the law, they didn't have a reasonable excuse for breaking the law, and Edward Snowden risked everything to blow the whistle on this lawbreaking.
If that doesn't make Snowden an American Hero, I question your definition of "hero".

Seven years after the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the mass surveillance of Americans’ telephone records, an appeals court has found the program was unlawful – and that the US intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

In a ruling handed down on Wednesday, the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit said the warrantless telephone dragnet that secretly collected millions of Americans’ telephone records violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and may well have been unconstitutional.

Some are saying "pardon Snowden".
Not me.
I say "Snowden for President".

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Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 1:28pm

OT: In news that will surprise no one

(not) Shocking!

The case brought against WikiLeaks founder, Australian journalist Julian Assange, which turned his life on its head, forcing him into exile at a foreign embassy, and to a British jail after the embassy forced him out - and now facing an extradition order by the United States, has been dropped.
Swedish prosecutors this week conceded the evidence to indict Assange on a sex offence, "is not strong enough."

"After conducting a comprehensive assessment of what has emerged during the course of the preliminary investigation I then make the assessment that the evidence is not strong enough to form the basis for filing an indictment," Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson told reporters.

What? Politics?

The preliminary rape investigation was discontinued by Finne on 25 August 2010. Two days later however Claes Borgstrom, a lawyer acting for the two complainants requested a review of the prosecutor's decision to terminate the major part of the investigation.

On 30 August 2010 Assange was interviewed by the Stockholm police regarding the alleged molestation. He denied the allegations, maintaining he had consensual sexual encounters with the two women.

On 1 September 2010, Overaklagare Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny made the decision to resume the preliminary investigation concerning all the allegations. On 18 August 2010, according to Wikipedia, Assange had applied for a work and residence permit in Sweden, which was denied on 18 October 2010. He subsequently left Sweden on 27 September 2010.

Assange's lawyer in London Mark Stephens said Assange had asked to be interviewed by prosecutors before leaving Sweden but was told he could leave the country without being interviewed.

Swedish prosecutors said that on the day Assange left they had informed his Swedish lawyer an arrest warrant would be issued.

Submitted by NYCVG on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 3:38pm

@gjohnsit finally!

@gjohnsit finally!

Bogus charges dropped.

America, it's our turn. Send Julian home to his family.

—

NYCVG

Submitted by aliasalias on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 3:28pm

Those charges were dropped last Nov, now this part continues

ASSANGE EXTRADITION: War on Journalism Resumes on Monday

@NYCVG WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition hearing is set to start on Monday, Sept. 7 at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of London, and could last three or four weeks.

Assange has been indicted on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of conspiring with a source to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for his reporting on the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the torture at Guantanamo Bay.

These charges against Assange are a part of a war on journalism. This is the first time that the Espionage Act of 1917 has been used to prosecute a journalist, in this case an Australian citizen publishing material from outside of the U.S.

The attack on the First Amendment became naked during the February phase of the U.K. hearing of the U.S. request for Assange’s extradition. On the first day of what unfolded as a grotesque show trial, Assange was subjected to strip searches twice, handcuffed 11 times, and his legal material was confiscated by prison officers. In the courtroom he was held behind a glass pane in the presence of private security officers, away from his lawyers, contrary to the accepted international standard.

Abuse of Process..."

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/04/assange-extradition-war-on-journal...

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Thu, 09/03/2020 - 5:42pm

Snowden was an inspiration.

He had the courage of his principles.

Thanks, Russia, for honoring asylum
and for keeping him safe.
He risked his life to preserve American rights.
Our rogue government would have tortured and killed him.

—

Carry a flame and share the light.

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 12:50pm

...And made it look like "suicide"

@Pluto's Republic

It wouldn't be the first time, either.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by Snode on Fri, 09/04/2020 - 7:05am

I'm guessing an appeal

to the Supreme Court. Watch the lapdog media throw out a few soundbites to pretend to report the news. Not enough to bring the case to the court of public opinion. Move on, nothing to see here. Also, national security and RUSSIA!!!!