Chicago – January 19, 2023
Do you know America’s most wanted criminal currently residing in Russia? You will be shocked to know the crime for which he was exiled from the United States.
Edward Joseph Snowden, an American and naturalized Russian citizen, was a computer intelligence expert and whistleblower who disclosed highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013. His revelations exposed several global monitoring operations, many of which were handled by the NSA and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance in collaboration with telecommunications corporations and European governments, sparking a cultural debate about national security and individual privacy.
In 2013, Snowden was hired as an NSA contractor. Snowden claims that he progressively got disillusioned with the programs he was involved in and attempted to express his ethical concerns through internal channels, but they were disregarded. Snowden flew to Hong Kong on May 20, 2013, after abandoning his position at an NSA site in Hawaii, and in early June, he leaked thousands of secret papers.
On June 21, 2013, the US Department of Justice charged Snowden with two counts of breaching the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property, prompting the Department of State to cancel his passport.
Two days later, he arrived at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, where Russian police discovered his revoked passport and detained him for more than a month. Russia then gave Snowden asylum and issued him a one-year permit for stay, which was frequently extended. In October 2020, he received permanent residency in Russia. President Vladimir Putin awarded Snowden Russian citizenship in September 2022, and on December 2, 2022, he took the oath of allegiance.
Snowden’s releases have sparked debate, with both acclaim and condemnation. Snowden has justified his actions as an attempt “to inform the public as to what is done in their name and against them.” His revelations have sparked arguments about widespread monitoring, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and data privacy.
Snowden became president of the Freedom of the Press Foundation in early 2016, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting journalists from hacking and government spying. He also works at an undisclosed Russian IT company.
