Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union have launched a campaign urging the US President Barack Obama to pardon the National Security Agency (NSA) former employee Edward Snowden, reports the Gazeta, referring to the Guardian.

Many political and cultural figures joined the campaign as well, including the former presidential candidate from Democrats Bernie Sanders. According to him, passing secret documents to journalists, Snowden revealed that the NSA had violated the constitutional rights of the citizens, using various tools to wiretap their conversations.

The Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty is convinced that Snowden was acting in public interests. According to him, treating Snowden as a spy is ironic, after the courageous actions he had undertaken.