Edward Snowden, the former CIA systems analyst turned whistleblower on global spy programmes, is to testify for the defence at the upcoming trial of Rui Pinto.
Pinto has been hailed as the source behind Football Leaks and Luanda Leaks, but Portuguese authorities insist that what he did falls into the bracket of ‘illegal access’ and is therefore a crime.
Snowden is to be an ‘endorsement witness’ via videolink from Russia where he has been granted asylum.
Lawyer William Bourdon, defending Pinto, is said to be planning to call other whistleblowers for input at the upcoming trial, particularly Antoine Deltour – the source of ‘Lux Leaks’, which exposed preferential tax rulings in Luxembourg that benefitted over 300 multinationals.
All those supporting Pinto – among them politicians, public figures and “other figures of interest” (in the words of William Bourdon) firmly believe 32-year-old Pinto’s motives for exposing corruption in the highest echelons of football were ‘pure’, says his lawyer, and not in any way related to trying to make money.
