EU lawmakers nominate Snowden for Sakharov human rights prize

Former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden has been reportedly nominated for the European Parliament's Sakharov human rights prize.

Snowden had revealed classified information about the NSA's alleged surveillance programmes, aimed to collect citizens' web and telephone activity data without any legal procedure.

According to Sky News, the whistleblower has sought asylum in Russia after leaking the US intelligence data and was nominated by Green and left-wing politicians.

The report said that the past winners of the prize include South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.