Netherlands: journalists jailed for not revealing sources
Reporters Without Borders voiced “surprise and concern” at the decision by a court in The Hague to jail two De Telegraaf journalists. Bart Mos and Joost de Haas were convicted to 2 days in prison earlier this week for refusing to unveil the name of one of their sources in a criminal trial. After paying the 48 hours sentence, a new court will decide whether the two editors should stay in prison for another 12 days.
In January Mos and De Haas published an article based on state-secret dossiers, leaked to them by anonymous sources. Because of the nature of the documents, the judge demanded the name of the sources so that they could be rightfully dealt with.
“Attempting to force journalists to reveal their sources in a criminal case where the burden of proof should fall on law enforcement officials is a serious threat to independent journalism and press freedom," declared Aidan White, General Secretary of The International Federation of Journalists.
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