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0 points2OEH8eoCRo05y ago0 comments

I wish Snowden didn't flee the country. I'd have a completely different opinion if he stood trial.

0 comments

I think he didn’t care much about your opinion of him so much as he did about what would happen to him and where he’d end up. Given what was being kept from the American people and what he knew, it’s impossible to call him paranoid or to even pass judgement on his character. He may not have been willing to give his literal life for the sake of blowing the whistle, but there really can be no question that he did give up his life to do so.

2OEH8eoCRo0OP5y ago

He didn't follow whistleblower procedure and fled to an adversary. If he believes he is being noble then he should stand trial in good faith. Best case he wins and gets off, worst case he does jail and is proven right.

monocasa5y ago

Hes afforded almost no whistleblower protections since he was a contractor.

https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2016/09/busting-myth-of-whistl...

The espionage act under which he'd be charged doesn't allow a public good defense to be used in court.

https://www.justiceinitiative.org/voices/why-snowden-won-t-g...

What you're asking for structurally can't happen in the US legal system.

1 more reply

JAlexoid5y ago

US literally forced Snowden to stay in Russia. He wen to HK, then was supposed to fly to Chile or Argentina through Moscow... But US government decided to disallow that.

So no - he didn't "flee to an adversary", as much as he was "forced to stay at advesary's".

PS: US "justice" system would have granted him no justice. So you can stick that "good faith" argument in the same location where I tell people to stick their "go march in Pakistan with your PRIDE flag" arguments.

3131s5y ago

Now I think you are being intentionally duplicitous. You know that there were at least two prior whistleblowers who did go up the chain of command, and as a result both were harassed and persecuted? If not, why did you not know this? Why are you commenting almost a decade later about a topic that you still know nothing about?

Edit: What a surprise, you "work in defense".

Miner49er5y ago

He didn't already sacrifice enough of his life? You aren't satisfied unless he gave all of it?

sradman5y ago

It doesn't have to be about just deserts, it can be about ethics. This argument is the main thrust of Plato's dialogue Crito [1]:

> In Crito, Socrates believes injustice may not be answered with injustice, personifies the Laws of Athens to prove this, and refuses Crito's offer to finance his escape from prison. The dialogue contains an ancient statement of the social contract theory of government.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crito

jarbus5y ago

I doubt he'd receive a fair trial; No way the government would let an unbiased judge rule over him

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