Edward Snowden, dubbed as a Central Intelligence Agency whistle blower, still faces charges from the United States government despite the public's appeal to bestow absolute and unconditional pardon on - what some call - the human rights hero.
In 2013, citizens uploaded a formal request on the U.S. government's official website for petitions to grant pardon to Snowden, who was charged for stealing information from the authorities. The total number of petitioners for Snowden's freedom reached 167,000, much higher than the 100,000 signatures required for the government to acknowledge the formal request.
Lisa Monaco, the President's Advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, said that Snowden's move to disclose confidential data has had a grave impact on the security of the state.
Prior to 2013, the National Security Agency and the CIA were spying on phone and internet transactions. Unable to tolerate the invasion of privacy, Snowden leaked the information, Time reported.
The U.S. intelligence services, who face public flak, filed cases against the whistle blower. If found guilty of stealing government property and unauthorized communication of national defense information, as well conscious sharing of classified communications, the former NSA and CIA employee may be confined for ten years for each case, MSN reported.
Meanwhile, Monaco has assured the public that President Barack Obama is acting on creating a balance between the public's safety and liberties.
Currently, Snowden lives in Russia, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. Snowden used to live in Hawaii with his girlfriend. Upon leaving the U.S., he flew to Hong Kong, before taking off to Moscow.
Moving forward with his cause, Snowden spoke via video-link at a human rights event in London organized last month by Amnesty International. He shared, "The difference is that you get a different quality of government when they are accountable to the public."
Since Snowden's revelation, the U.S. government has promised that the NSA will destroy records collected under its phone spying program, The Wall Street Journal reported.
