Snowden: Pulitzer Prize award a 'vindication'

Edward Snowden has issued a statement after the Guardian and Washington Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service in honour of their coverage of the NSA revelations.

"Today's decision is a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government," the whistleblower said.

"We owe it to the efforts of the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation," he added.

"This decision reminds us that what no individual conscience can change, a free press can. My efforts would have been meaningless without the dedication, passion, and skill of these newspapers, and they have my gratitude and respect for their extraordinary service to our society.

"Their work has given us a better future and a more accountable democracy," Mr Snowden said.