UK: Press could face prosecution if top secret leaked material is published
The UK Attorney General has warned press organisations that they may face prosecution under The Official State Secrets Act if they publish leaked top secret government material. The warning was given in an attempt to prevent further reports on a conversation between Tony Blair and George W. Bush.
Two important issues allegedly emerge from the conversation. Firstly, that Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush disagreed over the the conduct of the war in Iraq. Secondly, Mr. Bush suggested attacking the headquarters of Arab TV station Al-Jazeera. Washington has denied that Mr. Bush ever made such a statement.
It is not the role of the Editors Weblog to comment upon whether or not the allegations concerning the conversation between the US president and the British Prime minister are true or false. The important issue for us is the statement of the Attorney General regaring the potential prosecution of newspapers.
A memo including a transcript of the conversation was leaked to Leo O'Connor, a former researcher for Labour MP Tony Clarke, by cabinet official David Keogh. Both individuals have been charged under the Official State Secrets Act; O'Connor for receiving the document, and Keogh for the "damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations."
Guardian Media comments that this is the “first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way.” Even when the contents of classified government documents were published concerning the run-up to the Iraq war high court injuctions were taken out against some papers, but no newspaper editors were prosecuted.
In his statement to the media, the Attorney General made specific reference to a story publshed by The Daily Mirror entitled: "Bush plot to bomb his ally".
The Daily Mirror’s editor Richard Wallace made the following comment about his paper’s story: "We made No 10 fully aware of the intention to publish and were given 'no comment' officially or unofficially. Suddenly 24 hours later we are threatened under section 5 [of the secrets act]".
According to Media Guardian, the Attorney General’s comments on this issue suggest that that the prosecution plans to ask the judge to exclude the press from the trial of Keogh and O’Connor.
Source: GuardianMedia, news.Telegraph
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Joi Ito asks: "I have a basic question for anyone who understands this policy better than me - why is the US singling out journalists for special visas? Maybe the answer to this question will help shed light on whether... Read More
Joi Ito asks: "I have a basic question for anyone who understands this policy better than me - why is the US singling out journalists for special visas? Maybe the answer to this question will help shed light on whether... Read More
Joi Ito asks: "I have a basic question for anyone who understands this policy better than me - why is the US singling out journalists for special visas? Maybe the answer to this question will help shed light on whether... Read More
It is hard to have sympathy with US journos when the likes of John Gibson from FoxNews can spew filth about Europe with apparent impunity.
On the other hand, my understanding of the Judith Miller affair is that no-one is very sure whether she has in fact broken any laws.
And it is wrong to assume the British journalists don't come under pressure to reveal sources. Of course they do. We just make sure that most of the time (and I say most because Piers Morgan of the Daily Mirror reaped what he'd sown when he printed bogus pictures from Iraq), our sources are reliable and credible.
As you sow, so shall you reap...