Reform of “vigilance” in America is the victory of Snowden, says Assange

Snowden is a hero

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, refuge for over a year at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, called the announcement of U.S. President Barack Obama, to limit surveillance programs of his government, as a victory for the former analyst and fugitive spy Edward Snowden.

“The U.S. president has validated the role of Edward Snowden as a complainant with the announcement to reform the global surveillance program in the United States,” said Assange, who rejected Obama’s assertion that reforms were planned before the revelations of Snowden and argued that “the simple fact is that without the revelations of Snowden nobody would know about the programs and no reform could have been made.”

Assange accused the U.S. government of a “breathtaking” hypocrisy for their treatment to Snowden, when it has given refuge to thousands of dissidents, whistleblowers and political refugees from countries like Russia and Venezuela and now chases Snowden to face charges in the United States for espionage and leaking details of the monitoring programs there.

Snowden is now in Russia, where he was granted asylum.