Sadly, that is true, but it might go some way to prevent another tragedy of "justice" being inflicted on someone else who might otherwise die from such persecution.
Yeah, I’d like to see Snowden exonerated, but the government hasn’t changed. They’re still vindictive about being embarrassed, even though it was clearly whistleblowing and, nearly everyone agrees, ethical.
He also exposed crimes against the constitution that afaik no one has answered for, yet he himself is effectively banished to a dictatorship.