By TAL KOPAN
A group of former American intelligence officials and whistleblowers has awarded National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden its top prize.
Snowden was presented with the Sam Adams Award from the group, which honors one awardee a year for exhibiting integrity in intelligence.
A photo released Thursday shows a healthy-looking Snowden with the group of whistleblowers and WikiLeaks’s Sarah Harrison, who has been with Snowden since he fled the U.S. for Hong Kong before traveling to Russia. The ceremony in Moscow on Wednesday featured Snowden and famous whistleblowers including former NSA official Thomas Drake.
Snowden has been living in Russia since being granted asylum Aug. 1 after spending weeks in the Moscow airport.
Former Department of Justice ethics adviser Jesselyn Radack, who blew the whistle in the John Walker Lindh case, was one of the group that met with Snowden. She said he still loves America but is adjusting to life in Russia.
“He is grateful he was granted asylum by Russia after being rendered stateless by the US government. He loves America and wants to see it returned to its democratic ideals, which are completely antithetical to a closed and secret society that make for turn-key tyranny. In the meantime, he is integrating and adapting to his new life in Russia,” Radack said in a statement with the Government Accountability Project.