"The MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] can confirm that it continues to conduct an investigation into the events as described above," spokesman Nigel Shankster said in a written response, dated July 21, to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Snowden handed over some 1.7 million classified intelligence documents to The Intercept founder Glenn Greenwald, as well as the Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill, in June 2013.
In August that year, the MPS’ Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) launched a criminal investigation into the leaked documents following the seizure of files from Greenwald’s partner and assistant David Miranda in London.
The Intercept’s Ryan Gallagher said his FOI requests, dating back to January, had so far been denied on the grounds of terrorist threats to national security.
Mark Stephens, media lawyer and partner at the Howard Kennedy firm in London, told The Intercept the UK investigation remained open to "create a degree of uncertainty" among reporters dealing with intelligence documents.
"They are trying to shake down and instill fear into journalists and discourage them from exposing things that have to do with national security," Stephens said.
Snowden’s leaks have unveiled a trove of bulk global data collection and surveillance by UK, US and other intelligence agencies, triggering a massive public outcry.
