William Nygaard, Hege Newt Nuri, Edward Snowden
The whistleblower activities of the U.S. intelligence Edward Snowden, hiding in Russia, was awarded the Norwegian PEN-center named after Carl von Osickova. This was reported on the website of the organization that brings together writers, poets and journalists, on Saturday, April 29.
The award was presented to Snowden in a Moscow hotel, the President of the PEN center William Nygaard and Secretary-General of the Hege newt Nuri.
The Norwegian authorities did not give Snowden a guarantee of its non-refoulement in the United States. For this reason, Snowden, who is in Moscow since June 2013, declined earlier on a visit to Norway, where he was awarded the name of the writer bjørnstjerne bjørnson.
In July, Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told him to cancel the trip to Norway, between Oslo and Washington, there is an extradition Treaty.
The U.S. state Department recommended that the authorities of Norway to refrain from inviting Snowden.
Former employee of the NSA in the US accused of espionage, if returned to his homeland he faces up to 30 years in prison. Snowden gave the journalists a number of secret documents about the activities of U.S. intelligence, in particular, about the wiretapping and the hacking of e-mails of American citizens and the leaders of other countries.
After a series of high-profile revelations Snowden became a laureate of numerous prizes and awards.