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Edward Snowden to speak at Roskilde Festival

The Local Denmark
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Edward Snowden to speak at Roskilde Festival
Snowden shown speaking via satellite in Norway last year. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB scanpix

Roskilde Festival organizers announced on Wednesday that American whistleblower Edward Snowden will be a featured speaker at the festival.

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Snowden will speak via satellite from his exile in Moscow, where he has been living since 2013 after revealing widespread US foreign surveillance.
 
His address to the Roskilde crowd will take place on Tuesday, June 28th at 4.15pm and will be shown on the big screen at Rising City. 
 
Roskilde Festival spokeswoman Christina Bilde said Snowden was a perfect fit for this year’s theme on human rights. 
 
“More than anyone else, Edward Snowden has made us aware just how much human rights are challenged. This goes for a small country like Denmark as well where surveillance both in public and on social media challenges the right to privacy; where refugees make us question the right to free mobility; where the right to freedom of speech is debated heavily,” Bilde said. 
 
“His thoughts and experiences will undoubtedly inspire reflection amongst anyone who cares to listen at the festival,” she added. 
 
Snowden, 32, was charged by US authorities with espionage and the theft of state secrets after revealing the extent of surveillance programmes run by the National Security Agency. 
 
Earlier this year, Denmark’s justice minister admitted that the US sent a rendition flight to Copenhagen Airport that was meant to capture the whistle blower and return him to the United States to face charges. 

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