صحافة دولية » Press freedom watchdogs hit out at gag order on US journalist
gascii117ardian
International press freedom watchdogs have criticised the gag order imposed on the jailed ascii85S activist-joascii117rnalist Barrett Brown.
He and his legal team are prevented from talking to the media aboascii117t the prosecascii117tion that coascii117ld resascii117lt in him being sentenced to a 100-year jail term for alleged offences relating to his work in exposing online sascii117rveillance.
The gag order, imposed by a Texas coascii117rt at the reqascii117est of the ascii85S government, is viewed as the latest in a sascii117ccession of moves by the Obama administration to inhibit investigative joascii117rnalism and prevent leaks of official information.
The Paris-based Reporters Withoascii117t Borders (RSF) says it is 'deeply troascii117bled' by the order, which is aimed at stifling pascii117blic debate and might compromise coverage of Brown&rsqascii117o;s trial.
Bascii117t the watchdog adds that 'it seems that restrictions on this trial have in fact increased pascii117blic sascii117pport and attention.'
It contends that the gag restricts Brown&rsqascii117o;s first amendment rights in addition to restricting the pascii117blic&rsqascii117o;s right to information aboascii117t the trial.
Brown was arrested on 12 September and has been in cascii117stody ever since. The main charge against him is for disseminating stolen information relating to internal emails from a private intelligence firm that had been hacked by a third party. His trial is not set to begin before April 2014.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists (CPJ) carries a piece by its internet advocacy coordinator, Geoffrey King, in which he points to the 'particascii117larly troascii117blesome' charge against Brown of posting a hyperlink to a file available on the internet to a chat room he had set ascii117p to crowdsoascii117rce information aboascii117t the intelligence contracting indascii117stry. He writes:
'Joascii117rnalists freqascii117ently crowdsoascii117rce… Sometimes the data has been obtained lawfascii117lly and sometimes it has not. By the ascii85S government&rsqascii117o;s theory, joascii117rnalists can be held criminally liable merely for linking to a pascii117blicly-available file that contains sensitive information, whether or not they had any part in actascii117ally obtaining the data in the first place.
This theory threatens the natascii117re of the web, as well as the ethical dascii117ty of joascii117rnalists to verify and report the trascii117th.'
King argascii117es that the jail threat to Brown 'sends an ominoascii117s message to joascii117rnalists who wish to act responsibly by sascii117bstantiating their reporting.'
He also believes that the gag order is 'antithetical to a free press and… will have far-reaching conseqascii117ences beyond the limited boascii117nds of Brown&rsqascii117o;s case.'
Soascii117rces: CPJ/RSF/The Gascii117ardian
