Elon Musk starts new Twitter poll on whether Assange and Snowden should be pardoned

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently acquired Twitter, again me helines after posting a new tweet poll regarding US former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Following reports that Snowden has received a Russian passport and Assange submitted an appeal to European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Musk asked, “Should Assange and Snowden be pardoned?” Furr, new Twitter CEO did clarify that he is not expressing his opinion but he said, “promise to conduct this poll.”  

Following publication of poll, tweet received 13.7K Retweets, 1,460 Quote Tweets as well as 32.1K Likes. While re are still 23 hours left for voting to end, it has currently received nearly 611,083 votes. Among total, 79.7% have selected ‘yes’ option to support Musk’s statement, while 20.3% have opted for ‘no’. 

More on Edward Snowden and Julian Assange

Furrmore, this poll came as Edward Snowden, who gained notoriety for leaking secret information about American surveillance programs, has pledged allegiance to Russia, where he has been living in exile since 2013. It is important to note that Snowden is said to have obtained his passport and taken oath on Thursday, some three months after Russian President Vlimir Putin granted him citizenship. When US cancelled Snowden's passport in 2013, he was stranded in a Moscow airport for a couple of weeks. In end, he was granted permanent residency in Russia, which protected him from US authorities. He leaked confidential US intelligence budget, according to Associated Press, as well as extent of American surveillance of foreign authorities, including leers of partner countries. 

Besides this, Assange has filed an appeal with European Court of Human Rights in an effort to stop his extrition from Britain to United States, where he is pursued on criminal charges. 51-year-old Assange is wanted by US officials on 18 counts, which include one under an espionage act, related to WikiLeaks' publication of substantial quantities of secret US diplomatic cables and military records, which Washington claimed h put lives in danger. 

Although Britain has granted go-ahe for his extrition, Julian Assange has filed an appeal at London High Court. first hearing is scheduled for beginning of next year. ditionally, his legal team has filed a complaint against Britain with ECHR, which may result in an order to halt extrition. 

(Image: AP)