Edward Snowden Nominated Safe And Secure! For Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO – A Norwegian memberof parliament nominated fugitiveUS intelligence leaker EdwardSnowden for the Nobel Peace Prizeon Wednesday in a letter to the NorwegianNobel Committee.Among those elgible to forwardnominations are politicians and barristersaround the world, as well asuniversity professors from certaindisciplines.“He has contributed to revealingthe extreme level of surveillance bynations against other nations and ofcitizens,” former Socialist Left Partyminister Baard Vegar Solhjell said, explaininghis move.“Snowden contributed to peopleknowing about what has happenedand spurring public debate” on trustin government, which he said was “afundamental requirement for peace”.In a letter to the Norwegian NobelCommittee, Solhjell and his partycolleague Snorre Valen said that theydo not necessarily condone or supportall of Snowden’s disclosures, butpraised him for revealing the “natureand technological prowess of modernsurveillance”. “The level of sophistication anddepth of surveillance that citizens all overthe world are subject to have stunnedus, and stirred debate,” they wrote in thenomination letter.They added that Snowden’s actionshave “led to the reintroduction of trustand transparency as a leading principle inglobal security policies”.US National Security Agency documentsleaked by Snowden in 2013 revealedwidespread surveillance of individualsand institutions in the United States andaround the world.According to the whistleblowing websiteWikileaks, Snowden, who is currentlyliving in Russia, applied for asylum in severalcountries, including Norway, last summer.Solhjell, who was environment ministeruntil Norway’s left-wing governmentlost power last year, said he was aware ofSnowden’s reported request for asylumand that it should be handled according tonormal procedures.“This matter has not affected our decisionto nominate Snowden for the peaceprize,” Solhjell said.The deadline for submitting nominationsfor the 2014 peace prize is February1.In July 2013 a Swedish sociologyprofessor, Stefan Svallfors, nominatedSnowden for the Nobel Peace Prize afterthe deadline had passed but the nominationis still valid for 2014.