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For Immediate Release
July, 26 2013, 11:35am EDT
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Edda Müller, Chair
Dr. Christian Humborg, Executive Director
Transparency International, Germany
Tel.: +49 30 - 54 98 98 0
chumborg@transparency.de
Annegret Falter
Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler (VDW e.V.)
IALANA – German Section of International Association of Lawyers Against
Nuclear Arms
Tel.: 0+49 170/ 29 65 66 0
Annegret.falter@t-online.de
Whistleblower Award to Edward Snowden
BERLIN
This year's Whistleblower Award goes to the American Edward J. Snowden.
An insider, he publicized the massive, hidden surveillance of communications data by Western secret services. People who, in the public interest, are revealing major grievances and dangerous developments for individuals and society, for peace and the environment, are worthy recipients of the Whistleblower Prize.
Since 1999 the Whistleblower Prize is awarded bi-annually by the German chapter of International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and the Federation of German Scientists (FGS, the German Pugwash group). The prize money is 3000 Euros. The previous winners include, among others, Rainer Moormann (2011: Risks of pebble bed reactors), Rudolf Schmenger / Frank Wehrheim (2009: tax inspectors in
Frankfurt) and Brigitte Heinisch (2007: Berlin geriatric nurse). This year, for the first time, the anti-corruption organization Transparency
International, Germany is involved in the Whistleblower Prize.
In the view of the jury, the revelations of Edward J. Snowden leave no choice but to thoroughly check the facts and the state of the evidence. On this basis, the actions and processes by domestic and foreign authorities of the secret services revealed by Snowden need to be examined. The guiding question is if, and if so in what form, the governing law has been breached.
Based on current information, Article 10 of the Basic Law as well as the G10-law (regulating compliance of intelligence services with Article 10) have been violated. By publicizing the information, Edward Snowden accepted major disadvantages knowing of the prosecution of whistleblowers in the security industry.
Hartmut Grassl of the Federation of German Scientists stated: "an open society needs civil courage and courageous people like Edward Snowden in order to uncover and stop abuses." German IALANA's Otto Jaeckel said:
"Who could be more suitable to grant asylum to a US citizen being persecuted than the country which has been spied upon as heavily as Germany? Nevertheless, the whole EU has to act. Edward Snowden's whistleblowing did a great service to Germany and the other EU member states. Therefore we should compete to grant him asylum: from conviction, but also out of gratitude."
Edda Muller, Chair of Transparency Germany stated: "We owe a great debt to Edward Snowden: his courageous actions must have consequences.
International treaties limiting the sovereignty of Germany must be changed.
Furthermore, Great Britain as a member state of the European Union must explain very clearly in Brussels its position on the basic rights of EU citizens. And finally, Germany needs to ensure adequate protection of whistleblowers through appropriate legal regulations."
LATEST NEWS
Conservative Dem Golden Won't Seek Reelection After Saying Democracy Would Be 'Fine' Under Trump Last Year
“He’s apparently quitting now because democracy isn’t ‘just fine,'” said one Maine professor.
Nov 05, 2025
US Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist Democrat from Maine who has backed President Donald Trump's policies on issues such as trade and immigration, announced on Wednesday that he would not be seeking another term in office.
In an editorial published by the Bangor Daily News, Golden said that he decided against running for office again because he had "grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community—behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves."
Golden—the former Blue Dog Coalition co-chair with a history of voting with Republicans on various climate, military, and student debt relief policies—also said that he has become worried about political violence in the US that has targeted both lawmakers and activists in recent years.
"Last year we saw attempts against Donald Trump’s life, and more recently we witnessed the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the assassination of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, and the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk," he explained. "These have made me reconsider the experiences of my own family, including all of us sitting in a hotel room on Thanksgiving last year after yet another threat against our home. There have been enough of those over the years to demand my attention."
Golden also emphasized that he was not worried about losing the next election, but had instead concluded that "what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father, and a son."
Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, who announced earlier this year that he would challenge Golden for the Democratic nomination in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, put out a statement on Wednesday before Golden announced that he would not seek another turn claiming that Democrats' sweeping wins in Tuesday's elections showed that US voters wanted representatives who would more assertively stand up to the president.
"Across the country, voters rejected fear and division," Dunlap said. "They’re not ‘okay with’ another Trump presidency like Jared Golden is. Golden was wrong to cave on the continuing resolution instead of protecting affordable healthcare."
The remark about Golden being "okay with" Trump is a reference to an editorial he published last year in which he said that Trump would win the 2024 election and that "democracy will be just fine" regardless.
Michael Socolow, a media historian at the University of Maine, noted the contrast between Golden's editorial last year in which he brushed aside concerns about a second Trump term, and his editorial this year lamenting how a lack of civility and threats of political violence had snuffed out his desire to have a career in politics.
"I wonder if he regrets his op-ed saying 'Democracy will be just fine' if Donald Trump won the 2024 election?" he wondered. "He's apparently quitting now because democracy isn't 'just fine.'"
While Golden was one of the most conservative Democrats in the US House, he also represented a district that has voted for Trump in three consecutive elections, and his retirement will likely make it harder for Democrats to keep the seat from flipping to Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
J. Miles Coleman, an associate editor at Sabato's Crystal Ball, wrote on X that Golden's retirement moves his district from a "toss-up" election to a "leans Republican" election next year.
Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a MAGA favorite and ardent Trump supporter, confirmed last month that he planned to run for Golden's seat.
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Frey Defeats Democratic Socialist Fateh to Win Third Term as Minneapolis Mayor
“They may have won this race, but we have changed the narrative about what kind of city Minneapolis can be,” Omar Fateh said.
Nov 05, 2025
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey fended off a challenge from democratic socialist Omar Fateh to secure a third term by winning enough support in the second round of the city's ranked-choice voting system.
City election officials declared Frey, a Democrat, the winner Wednesday morning after tabulating second- and subsequent-choice votes. Frey won 42% of first-choice votes, followed by Fateh with 32%, former pastor DeWayne Davis with 14%, and entrepreneur Jazz Hampton with 10%.
Fateh—a Democratic state senator and son of Somali immigrants—congratulated Frey on his victory.
“They may have won this race, but we have changed the narrative about what kind of city Minneapolis can be,” he said. “Because now, truly affordable housing, workers’ rights, and public safety rooted in care are no longer side conversations; they are at the center of the narrative.”
Thank you, Minneapolis!While this wasn’t the outcome we wanted, I am incredibly grateful to every single person who supported our grassroots campaign. I’ll keep fighting alongside you to build the city we deserve. Onward.
[image or embed]
— Omar Fateh (@omarfatehmn.com) November 5, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Frey said in a statement Wednesday, “From right now through my final seconds as mayor, I will work tirelessly to make our great city a place where everyone, regardless of who you are or where you come from, can build a brilliant life in an affordable home and a safe neighborhood."
Fateh’s campaign drew comparisons with that of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, another progressive state lawmaker and democratic socialist who was bombarded with racist, Islamophobic, and xenophobic hate by prominent right-wing figures. Like Mamdani, Fateh hoped voters would focus on his record of serving his constituency in the state Legislature.
Among the dozens of bills authored by Fateh were a successful proposal to fund tuition-free public colleges and universities and tribal colleges for students from families with household incomes below $80,000, including undocumented immigrants, and another measure that exempted fentanyl test strips from being considered drug paraphernalia.
Fateh was also the chief state Senate author of a bill that would have ensured that drivers on ride-hailing applications like Uber and Lyft were paid minimum wage and received workplace protections. Although the bill was approved by both houses of the state Legislature, it was vetoed by Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Gov. Tim Walz, sparking widespread outrage among progressives.
Initially chosen over Frey by state DFL delegates, Fatah's endorsement was rescinded in August by state party officials, sparking widespread outrage from progressives including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who condemned the "inexcusable" move, which she chalked up to "the influence of big money in our politics."
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Pro-Israel Billionaire Who Led Mamdani Scaremongering Now Offers to Help NYC's Next Mayor
One social media user wrote that the hedge fund executive Bill Ackman "went from acting like Mamdani was going to import ISIS to extending a friendly handshake… in like six hours."
Nov 05, 2025
After his resounding election victory on Tuesday night, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's most prominent billionaire antagonist immediately pivoted to kiss the ring of the man he has spent the last more than half-year portraying as an existential threat to the city and the country.
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman poured over $1.75 million into the mayor's race with a laser focus on stopping Mamdani, whom he often ambushed with several-thousand-word screeds on his X account, which boasts nearly 2 million followers. He accused Mamdani—a staunch critic of Israel—of "amplifying hate" against Jewish New Yorkers, while suggesting that his followers (which happened to include many Jewish New Yorkers) were "terror supporters."
Meanwhile, the billionaire suggested that the democratic socialist Mamdani's "affordability" centered agenda, which includes increasing taxes on corporations and the city's wealthiest residents to fund universal childcare, free buses, and a rent freeze for stabilized units, would make the city "much more dangerous and economically unviable," in part by causing an exodus of billionaires like himself.
In turn, Mamdani often invoked Ackman's name on the campaign trail, using him as the poster boy for the cossetted New York elite that was almost uniformly arrayed against his candidacy. In one exchange, Mamdani joked that Ackman was "spending more money against me than I would even tax him."
After Mamdani's convincing victory Tuesday night, fueled in large part by his dominant performance among the city's working-class voters, Ackman surprisingly did not respond with "the longest tweet in the history of tweets" to lament the result as some predicted. Instead, he came to the mayor-elect hat in hand.
"Congrats on the win," he told Mamdani on X. "Now you have a big responsibility. If I can help NYC, just let me know what I can do."
Many were quick to point out Ackman's near-immediate 180-degree turn from prophecizing doom to offering his help to the incoming mayor.
"This guy went from acting like Mamdani was going to import ISIS to extending a friendly handshake… in like six hours," noted one social media user.
But Mamdani graciously accepted the billionaire's congratulations when asked about them on Wednesday's "Good Morning America."
"I appreciated his words,” Mamdani said. "I think what I find is that there is a needed commitment from leaders of the city to speak and work with anyone who is committed to lowering the cost of living in the city—and that’s something that I will fulfill."
As Bloomberg and Forbes noted, Ackman was just one of many on Wall Street and from the broader finance world who came to kiss the ring.
Ralph Schlosstein, a co-founder of the investment fund BlackRock, Inc., pledged to work with Mamdani despite their different politics: "I do care deeply about the city, and I’m not going anywhere, whoever the mayor is. I’m going to do whatever I can to help him be successful," he said.
Another former BlackRock executive, Mark Kronfeld, said: "Is it a dystopian, post-apocalyptic environment because Mamdani has won? No."
Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz even credited Mamdani with "tapping into a message that’s real: that we’ve got a tale of two cities in the Dickensian sense," and asked if the incoming mayor could "address the affordability issue in creative ways without driving business out."
But while Mamdani has left the door open to business, he has made it clear that he will not allow them to commandeer his work at City Hall.
After his victory, he called on his base of largely small-dollar donors to resume their financial support for him in order to fund "a transition that can meet the moment of preparing for January 1.”
He announced that this historic all-female transition team will include at least one renowned titan of economic populism, the trust-busting former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, as well as other progressive city administrators with backgrounds in expanding the social safety net and public housing.
"I’m excited for the fact that it will be funded by the very people who brought us to this point," Mamdani said, "the working people who have been lost behind by the politics of the city."
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