US authorities have filed espionage charges against American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has revealed secrets about US surveillance programs.
The 29-year-old former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor is charged with Å“theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person,” according to a court document, which was made public on Friday.
The criminal complaint against Snowden was filed with a court in the state of Virginia. The complaint dates back to June 14.
According to two US sources, whose names have not been publicized, Washington is preparing to seek Snowdenâ„¢s extradition from Hong Kong, where he is believed to be currently residing.
The Washington Post has also reported that the US had asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional arrest warrant.
On June 6, the UKâ„¢s Guardian newspaper revealed that a top secret US court order allows the NSA to collect data on the millions of Americans who are customers of major US phone company Verizon.
On the same day, the Washington Post also reported that the NSA had direct access to internet servers, saying their source, a career intelligence officer, was horrified of the capabilities of the systems used by the top US spy agency.
On June 9, Snowden admitted his role in the leaks in a 12-minute video recorded interview published by the British daily.
A new leak by Snowden has revealed that Britainâ„¢s spy agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), has gained access to the network of cables that carry the world’s phone calls and internet traffic and has begun to process sensitive personal information. The GCHQ shares the data with its American partner, the NSA.
Å“It’s not just a US problem. The UK has a huge dog in this fight,” Snowden told the Guardian. Å“They [GCHQ] are worse than the US.”
Documents shown to the daily by the NSA whistleblower indicate that by last year, GCHQ was handling 600 million Å“telephone events” each day.
MR/HN/HJL
This article originally appeared on: Press TV