14 DAY TRIAL // NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has taken the chance to send a letter to the European Union Parliament committee that calls for the protection of whistleblowers.
The committee is currently holding an investigation regarding the scandal surrounding the NSA over the past four months.
Currently, all sorts of hearings are being conducted, including with whistleblowers such as Annie Machon, who revealed an MI6 plot to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi in 1996 and Edward Snowden.
Since Snowden was not able to attend in person, he sent out a letter in which he thanks the LIBE committee for taking up the challenge of mass surveillance.
“We must create better channels for people of conscience to inform not only trusted agents of government but independent representatives of the public outside government,” Snowden wrote.
He blames the culture of secrecy for creating a lack of opportunity to determine the right balance between the fundamental right of privacy and the governmental interest.
Snowden also took the opportunity to explain his reasons for leaking the documents that have caused such an uproar across the world, namely to launch a debate about the government surveillance programs.
“We see emboldened courts that are no longer afraid to consider critical questions of national security. We see brave executives remembering that if the public is prevented from knowing how they are being governed, the necessary result is that they are no longer self-governing. And we see the public reclaiming an equal seat at the table of government,” Snowden wrote.
The letter was read by Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project before the EU Parliament’s Committee.
Snowden is currently among three finalists for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in the European Union, the highest prize for those who fight for human rights.
