Oslo: Edward Snowden was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Norway’s politicians, including a former government minister, for contributing to transparency and global stability by exposing a US spying programme. Snowden (30) fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia after leaking classified documents on the US National Security Agency (NSA) spying programmes. He faces charges of theft and espionage and is in Russia on temporary asylum.

“The public debate and changes in policy that have followed in wake of Snowden’s whistleblowing have contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order,” Norwegian parliamentarians Snorre Valen and Baard Vegar Solhjell said in the nomination letter obtained by Bloomberg.