PRISM Leak Source Edward Snowden Charged With Espionage

Edward Snowden, a 29 year old former technical analyst for the CIA, came to the spotlight a couple of weeks ago. He leaked several top secret documents related to the NSA’s secret PRISM program, recently he also leaked evidence of UK GCHQ’s alleged fiber optic cable tapping program called Tempora. It was expected that the U.S. government will bring criminal charges against him, according to The Washington Post, charges of espionage have been brought against Edward Snowden.

On the other hand, an online petition for his pardon has already been started and it has received a significant amount of signatures from people all around the world. Snowden flew to Hong Kong before leaking these documents and while the U.S. was expected to begin extradition proceedings against him there, it was reported today that Snowden flew out of Hong Kong to Moscow. He has also been charged with Unauthorized Communications on National Defense Information, Willful Communication of Classified Information to an Unauthorized Person and with Theft of Government Property. These charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is where Booz Allen Hamilton’s HQ is located, Snowden is an employee of this defense contractor. Expected to travel to Cuba from Moscow, it is pretty evident that Edward Snowden isn’t coming Stateside any time soon.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Military
Tags: Edward Snowden, nsa, prism