Fugitive Snowden in running for European rights prize
Fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden is in the running for a European human rights prize whose past winners include Nelson Mandela and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Snowden, who is in hiding in Russia, is one of seven nominations made by members of the European Parliament for the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, a move likely to upset Washington which wants to try him on espionage charges.
Snowden was nominated by the Greens in the European Parliament who said he had done an "enormous service" for human rights and European citizens by disclosing secret U.S. Internet and telephone surveillance programs.
The European Parliament is the popularly elected branch of the government of the European Union. It would appear that Edward Snowden has friends and supporters in many places. There are two more stages in the election process for the award with the winner to be determined on Oct. 10th.