The American Civil Liberties Union is joining other organizations seeking a presidential pardon for U.S. national security secrets leaker Edward Snowden.
Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, leaked thousands of secret documents on U.S. government surveillance programs in 2013 and fled the country to China and later Russia, where he lives in Moscow.
He could face 30 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act. Snowden contends that he's a whistleblower and sought to expose illegal activities.
The ACLU is joining Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in lobbying President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden before he leaves office in January.
"Snowden should be hailed as a hero. Instead, he is exiled in Moscow, and faces decades in prison under World War One-era charges that treat him like a spy," reads the website pardonsnowden.org, which was started by the groups and went online Wednesday.
"Ed stood up for us, and it's time for us to stand up for him. Urge President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, and let him come home with dignity."
Snowden himself talked about the possibility of a pardon during an interview with The Guardian on Tuesday.
"Yes, there are laws on the books that say one thing, but that is perhaps why the pardon power exists — for the exceptions, for the things that may seem unlawful in letters on a page but when we look at them morally, when we look at them ethically, when we look at the results, it seems these were necessary things, these were vital things," he said.
Despite currently being restricted to Moscow, where he lives in exile, Snowden is confident that he will one day return to the U.S.
"In the fullness of time, I think I will end up back home," he said.
"Once the officials, who felt like they had to protect the programs, their positions, their careers, have left government and we start looking at things from a more historical perspective, it will be pretty clear that this war on whistleblowers does not serve the interests of the United States; rather it harms them."
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