Dave Keating

Members of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee today (9 January) voted to invite Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor, to testify as part of its investigation into US surveillance practices.
Snowden will testify from Russia via a pre-recorded video-link, in response to questions provided in advance by MEPs.
The hearing, likely to be held at the end of this month, is designed to provide evidence for the committee’s special inquiry into allegations of mass surveillance by US intelligence services. On 18 December the committee heard video testimony from Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who, based on Snowden’s information, blew the lid on the US operation to collect global communications data.
The move could endanger relations with the United States, with some members of the US Congress saying that ongoing EU-US negotiations would be affected. Today, 36 MEPs voted in favour of the move, with just two voting against and one abstaining.

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  1. shinichi Post author

    European Parliament to hear Snowden testimony

    by Dave Keating

    European Voice

    Civil liberties committee votes to invite testimony from NSA whistleblower, risking conflict with the United States.

    http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2014/january/snowden/79259.aspx

    Members of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee today (9 January) voted to invite Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor, to testify as part of its investigation into US surveillance practices.

    Snowden will testify from Russia via a pre-recorded video-link, in response to questions provided in advance by MEPs.
    The hearing, likely to be held at the end of this month, is designed to provide evidence for the committee’s special inquiry into allegations of mass surveillance by US intelligence services. On 18 December the committee heard video testimony from Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who, based on Snowden’s information, blew the lid on the US operation to collect global communications data.

    The move could endanger relations with the United States, with some members of the US Congress saying that ongoing EU-US negotiations would be affected. Today, 36 MEPs voted in favour of the move, with just two voting against and one abstaining.

    Last year Snowden exposed massive surveillance of European citizens, institutions and political leaders by the US agency. German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht has been co-ordinating the testimony with Snowden’s lawyers.

    The British Conservatives have been vocally opposed to the idea. Last month British MEP Timothy Kirkhope sent a letter to members of the committee saying that Snowden is a criminal and that accepting his testimony would be “a provocative act that would enable him to further endanger security around Europe and beyond”. However the idea has support from the other political groups, according to sources.

    Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said during a visit to Brussels that it was “beneath the dignity” of the Parliament to hear testimony from Snowden. He said such a move would damage ongoing negotiations over issues such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU-US free-trade agreement.

    The committee is also due to be presented with a report on US surveillance from British centre-left MEP Claude Moraes. The report is expected to recommend that the ‘safe harbour agreement’ between the EU and the US, which allows for easy data transfer between the EU and US, be re-evaluated. The agreement covers Europeans’ data stored by US-based websites such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.

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