Dans un entretien accordé à une chaîne allemande, l’ex-agent de la NSA Edward Snowden affirme que les Etats-Unis espionnent aussi de grandes entreprises. Il dit aussi craindre pour sa vie.
Dans un entretien à la chaîne de télévision allemande NDR (du groupe ARD), Edward Snowden a affirmé qu’il “ne fait aucun doute que les États-Unis se livrent à de l’espionnage économique”. Il s’agissait de sa première interview filmée depuis son exil à Moscou en juin 2013.
“S’il y a des informations, par exemple sur Siemens, qui soient dans l’intérêt national, mais qui n’ont rien à voir avec la sécurité nationale, eh bien ils prendront cette information quand même”, a-t-il expliqué.
“Menaces de mort”
Il a également évoqué des “menaces explicites” contre lui de la part des États-Unis, tout en assurant malgré tout “très bien” dormir.
“Ces gens, et ce sont des fonctionnaires gouvernementaux, ont dit qu’ils aimeraient me mettre une balle dans la tête ou m’empoisonner à la sortie d’un supermarché, pour me voir mourir sous ma douche”, poursuit Edward Snowden, selon la traduction en allemand de ses propos, fournie par l’ARD.
Très prudentAu cours de l’entretien, tourné cette semaine dans une chambre d’hôtel à Moscou, l’ex-agent de la NSA s’est montré très prudent dans ses affirmations.
L’une des conditions posées par le président russe Vladimir Poutine, lorsqu’il lui a accordé l’asile pour un an, était qu’il cesse ses révélations susceptibles de “nuire aux États-Unis”.
Espionnage de la NSA: la carte du scandale http://info.tsr.ch/cartes/info.php?carte=149
Edward Snowden tells German TV that NSA is involved in industrial espionage
The National Security Agency is involved in industrial espionage and will take intelligence regardless of its value to national security, the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has told a German television network.
In a lengthy interview broadcast on the public broadcaster ARD TV on Sunday, Snowden said the NSA did not limit its espionage to issues of national security and cited the German engineering firm Siemens as one target.
“If there’s information at Siemens that’s beneficial to US national interests – even if it doesn’t have anything to do with national security – then they’ll take that information nevertheless,” Snowden said in the interview conducted in Russia, where Snowden has claimed asylum.
Snowden also told the German public broadcasting network he no longer had possession of any documents or information on NSA activities and had turned everything over to select journalists. He said he did not have any control over the publication of the information.
Questions about US government spying on civilians and foreign officials arose last June, when Snowden leaked documents outlining the widespread collection of telephone records and email to media outlets including the Guardian.
Reports that the NSA monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone have added to anger in Germany, which has been pushing for a “no-spy” agreement with the US, a country it considers to be among its closest allies.
Snowden also talked about US reports that his life was in danger for leaking the documents. But he said that he sleeps well because he believes he did the right thing by informing the public about the NSA’s activities.
“There are significant threats but I sleep very well,” he said before referring to a report on a US website that he said quoted anonymous US officials saying his life was in danger.
“These people, and they are government officials, have said they would love to put a bullet in my head or poison me when I come out of the supermarket and then watch me die in the shower,” Snowden said.
Snowden’s claim the NSA is engaged in industrial espionage follows a New York Times report earlier this month that the NSA put software in almost 100,000 computers around the world, allowing it to carry out surveillance on those devices and could provide a digital highway for cyberattacks.