Why arrest snowden

Scotland Yard later issued a statement saying he had been further arrested on behalf of US authorities on arrival at the police station.

A spokesman said: "This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as possible.

ES Money. The Escapist. The Reveller. The whistleblower will not travel to Norway next week to accept award after national broadcaster released letters US sent in requesting extradition.

The FBI demanded that Scandinavian countries arrest and extradite Edward Snowden if he flew to any of those countries and claimed asylum, newly released official documents reveal. In the summer of the whistleblower had left his hotel in Hong Kong and was holed up in Moscow airport applying to various countries, including Norway, for asylum after leaking to the Guardian a massive cache of documents disclosing the shocking extent of US and British surveillance of digital communications.

Edward Snowden is a human rights hero, yet he faces decades in prison under charges that treat him like a spy who sold secrets to enemies of the USA. Snowden revealed human rights abuses on a mass, global scale — yet he continues to be punished for blowing the whistle, and telling the world about the abuses.

Thanks to him, we now know that governments — including the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — are capturing and storing our private information without our consent. Yet Snowden has paid a high price for exposing the abuses. The US Department of Justice has charged him with violating the Espionage Act for his part in exposing global mass surveillance programmes.

If found guilty Snowden faces up to 30 years in prison. Snowden revealed the information in the public interest — to expose the hitherto secret and unprecedented infringement of the right to privacy of whole nations of people. He is a whistleblower who exposed human rights abuses on a mass scale — and should not be punished for doing so. The charges facing Snowden under the Espionage Act are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with the circumstances of his case — and if he's tried for crimes under the Espionage Act, he could be prevented from presenting a defence that explains his motives were in the public interest.

Senior US officials have condemned Snowden without a trial, labelling him as both guilty and a traitor, raising serious questions as to whether he would receive a fair trial if he returns. He remains unable to travel to countries that have extended the offer of asylum. The USA continues to lean heavily on governments around the world to impede his transit through their territories or travel through their airspace.

There are protections around whistleblowers when the information they have revealed is seen to be in the public interest. In the three years since his revelations, Snowden has changed how we think about communicating online and on our phone. In the UK, Amnesty has brought litigation charges against the UK government and its intelligence agencies on human rights grounds — and won.

Snowden brought the information to light — yet the strict charges against him remain. Snowden blew the whistle on human rights abuses solely in the public interest.