Human rights organisations Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union will launch a campaign in the United States seeking a presidential pardon for former National Security Agency contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden, BBC reported on Monday. The organisations will launch the ‘Pardon Snowden’ campaign on Wednesday to coincide with the release of a Snowden biopic.

They have urged US President Barack Obama to forgive the whistle-blower, saying that he should not be prosecuted for exposing the “indiscriminate mass surveillance of communications” by intelligence agencies in the country. The civil liberties union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project director Ben Wizner said the campaign will conduct a mass signature campaign and get “prominent individuals and organisations” to express their support for a pardon, Motherboard reported. “Unless the government is willing to consider charging him with something appropriate, there is not going to be a trial if we have anything to say about it,” he added.

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However, the White House said Snowden should face charges in the US as his leaks “damaged” the country. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the former NSA contractor will be “treated fairly and consistent with the law” if he returns to the US. Snowden had earlier said that he was willing to be extradited to the US if the federal government guaranteed him a fair trial where he can make a “public interest defence” and have jurors decide his case.

In 2013, Snowden left the country after he leaked details of a secret government programme on global surveillance. He now faces espionage and theft charges in the US that can earn him a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Later that year, he was granted asylum in Russia for three years and still lives there in an undisclosed location.