(FILES) This file photo taken on June 23, 2015 shows NSA former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden seen via live video link from Russia on a computer screen during a parliamentary hearing on the subject of "Improving the protection of whistleblowers", at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Judging by the resoluteness of US officials' tone, the chances President Barack Obama will pardon Edward Snowden appear very slim, and close to none before November's presidential election.The former National Security Agency contractor who released thousands of classified documents in 2013 revealing the vast US surveillance put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks currently lives in Russia.Three prominent human rights groups -- Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union -- launched a campaign September 14, 2016 to pressure Obama to pardon the fugitive whistleblower. / AFP PHOTO / FREDERICK FLORINFREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images
