Screen capture from the interview with Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras on June 6, 2013
Top Norway lawyers back Snowden Nobel
Published: 23 Jun 2014 07:58 GMT+02:00
Updated: 23 Jun 2014 07:58 GMT+02:00
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The Norwegian chapter of the International Commission of Jurists last week gave its official support to the Snowden nomination, in a letter signed by twenty of the country's leading lawyers.
The signatories include four university professors, as well as George Apeness, the former head of the country's Data Protection Authority, who was a respected defender of Norwegians' privacy rights before he retired in 2010.
Jennifer Leigh Bailey, the American politics professor at NTNU, said she didn't think that giving Snowden the prize would damage Norwegian relations with the US.
"It could be a positive thing to show the world that it's not only Chinese dissidents who receive the Nobel Peace Prize, but also American ones," she said.
Anders Werp, the Conservative MP who is deputy head of the Norwegian parliament's justice committee, said it would be wrong to award the prize to someone who is wanted for serious crimes.
"Snowden is under investigation for serious offences, and it is the US which has opened an investigation," he said.
As well Einarsen, Bård Vegard Solhjell and Snorre Valen from Norway's Socialist Left party, have also nominated Snowden for the prize.
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