Snowden: Danes should question government about NSA surveillance

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden says Danes should not trust their government's statement that there has been no illegal surveillance in Denmark.

Snowden, in an interview with the blog denfri.dk, said Danish citizens should not depend on the government or on journalists to reveal the truth, the Copenhagen Post reported Thursday.

"The Danes should start asking some serious questions when their government starts acting in the same way as the German one," he said.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said publicly that the U.S. National Security Agency had assured him that on surveillance had been conducted in Germany in violation of its laws or against its interests. Documents leaked by Snowden revealed the NSA had done both.

Snowden, a former contractor for NSA, is living in Russia, which has granted him temporary asylum. He faces criminal charges in the United States.

Snowden has questions about the role of journalists: "Should the Danes really rely on journalists to carry out the investigation, which the government is supposed to handle? And do the media ask the government the right questions?"

He said Danes should ask not whether surveillance in the country is "technically legal" but how they can protect their rights not only from their own intelligence agencies but those of "all the other countries in the world."