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WikiLeaks: US opens grand jury hearing
Guardian 13 May 2011
DATELINE: 13/5/11
The US government has opened a grand jury hearing into the passing of hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks – the start of the process of deciding whether to prosecute the website and its founder, Julian Assange, for espionage.The first session of the grand jury is understood to have begun in Alexandria, Virginia, with the forced testimony of a man from Boston, Massachusetts. The unidentified man was subpoenad to appear before the panel.
The terms of the subpoena – first revealed by the Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald – gave a clear indication that the jury has been convened specifically to consider whether to approve the prosecution of Assange and Wikileaks.
It said the hearing was investigating "possible violations of federal criminal law involving, but not necessarily limited to, conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information in violation of" the Espionage Act.
The Act, which was introduced in 1917 just after the US entered the first world war, was modelled on Britain's Official Secrets Act.
It was most famously applied, unsuccessfully, in 1971 against Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon papers on the Vietnam war.
The subpoena also reveals that the grand jury is considering approving a prosecution on grounds of "knowingly accessing a computer without authorisation or exceeding authorized access" and "knowingly stealing or converting any record or thing of value of the United States or any department or agency thereof".
That would appear to point more in the direction of Bradley Manning, the US military intelligence specialist currently facing court martial as the suspected source of the WikiLeaks documents.
The US has had a hard time so far trying to make charges, other than against Manning, stick in the WikiLeaks saga.
The Espionage Act has never been applied successfully against a non-government party, and to have a reasonable chance of prosecuting Assange or WikiLeaks as an organisation, the authorities would need to be able to prove to the satisfaction of a jury that they had actively encouraged or assisted the source of the leaks to transmit unauthorised material.
The FBI has been focusing its investigations aggressively on the hacker community of Boston, around the technology university MIT, in the hope of gaining information on how Assange made contact with his source. Wednesday's hearing is likely to be part of that effort.
The public radio network NPR pointed out that the WikiLeaks grand jury is just one of a spate of federal investigations into leaking that constitutes a major crack down by the Obama administration.
There are currently five separate criminal prosecutions relating to official leaks under way, a surge in activity that national security experts say is a worrying attack on the rights of whistle blowers.
The WikiLeaks grand jury, comprising between 16 and 24 jurors, will sit in secret. It will act as a kind of pre-trial, considering the prosecution evidence and calling witnesses, before finally deciding on whether or not to advance a prosecution.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
Last modified: Monday, May 23, 2011
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How can UK journalists stand not having real freedom of the press there?
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
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DATELINE: 1/3/13
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Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Free Speech & Censorship
Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden - He will appeal against the extradition ruling
Bail decision welcomed
Assange's release delayed
The arrest of Julian Assange - the work goes on
How the BBC surreptitiously censors callers to phone-ins
Net censorship finds a new expression
Welcome for decision to drop proposed cabinet papers exemption
Stars of UK comedy and science stand up against unfair libel laws
CPBF condemns temporary shutdown for WikiLeaks
Panorama nurse can return to work
Secret filming nurse up for award
Whistleblower Nurse Appeal
Breen judgment a landmark victory for press freedom
An untold story?
Hundreds demonstrate their freedom to photograph
Olympic builders forced to sign gagging orders
Brown backs down in expenses row
Access to MPs' expenses move criticised
Triumph for journalists' rights as Sally Murrer wins her case
No Place for Censorship at Olympics
Journalists facing harassment in China says Greenslade
Chinese Authorities' Broken Promises
AGM condemns threats to Media Lens
CPBF condemns Tesco libel action
Unite demands reinstatement for Pizza man
Response to the Ministry of Justice proposal to extend FoI
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CPBF response to the cartoons
