Edward Snowden

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American computer

professional, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, and former
contractor for the United States government, who copied and leaked
classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013
without prior authorization.
His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by
the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance, with the cooperation of
telecommunication companies and European governments.
In 2013, Snowden was hired by an NSA contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, after
previous employment with Dell and the CIA.
On May 20, 2013, Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job at an NSA
facility in Hawaii, and in early June he revealed thousands of classified NSA
documents to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen
MacAskill.
Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel
and The New York Times.
On June 21, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed charges against
Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of
government property.
On June 23, he flew to Moscow, Russia, where he remained for over one
month. Russian authorities granted him asylum for one year, which was later
extended to three years. As of 2016, he was still living in an undisclosed
location in Russia while seeking asylum elsewhere.
His asylum has as of January 18, 2017 been renewed for a further 3 years, until 2020.
On June 30, 2013, WikiLeaks editor Sarah Harrison, presented to the consular
department at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport requests for political asylum
addressed to 21 countries, including Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba,
Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway,
Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.
On July 5, it was reported that Snowden had requested asylum in another six countries.
On July 7, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Venezuelan authorities,
who had offered the former US defense contractor guarantees of asylum,
were waiting for a response to their offer. Bolivian President Evo Morales also
expressed his readiness to grant Snowden asylum if he officially requested it.
Nicaragua also offered their assistance for asylum.
On July 11, Snowden emailed a letter to foreign human rights organizations
working in Russia, the UN mission in Moscow, and several Russian lawyers,
inviting them to meet him on July 12 in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo
Airport. After the meeting, it became known that Snowden would request
temporary asylum in Russia.
 On August 6, Snowden was registered with the migration service. The
decision to grant Snowden temporary asylum in Russia was made by a
territorial section in the Federal Migration Service (FMS).
On March 10, Snowden addressed attendees of the South by Southwest (SXSW)
Interactive Technology Conference in Austin, Texas, by teleconference. Snowden said
that he had leaked top-secret information about illegal US intelligence programs in order
to uphold the law.
On December 10, Snowden participated in a video conference between
Moscow and Paris organized by Amnesty International. He confirmed he had
destroyed all the classified materials in his possession.

Roman Polanski

Rajmund Roman Thierry Polaski (born 18 August 1933) in Paris, France.

When he was four. Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany a few years later, in
1939, and Polanski spent the next six years of his childhood mostly on his
own, trying to survive the ongoing Holocaust.
A turning point in his life took place in 1969, when his pregnant wife, Sharon
Tate, along with four friends, was brutally murdered by members of the
Manson Family.
Following her death, Polanski returned to Europe and eventually continued
directing. He made Macbeth (1971) in England and back in Hollywood,
Chinatown (1974), which was nominated for eleven Academy Awards.
In 1977, Polanski was arrested and charged with the rape of a 13-year-old
model during a photo session. He subsequently pled guilty to the charge of
statutory rape.
He was released from prison after serving 42 days, and as part of an
apparent plea bargain, was to be put on probation. When he learned that the
judge changed his mind and planned to reject the plea bargain, he fled to
Paris before sentencing.
However, the American case for extradition was rejected by the Swiss
authorities and in July 2010 he was released from house arrest. Although the
United States and France had signed an extradition treaty in 1996 (1), it did
not apply to Polanski because France forbids extradition of its own citizens.