Journalists rally in front of Justice Ministry to protest colleague’s indictment
Haaretz reporter charged with possession of state secrets received from soldier who was convicted of espionage
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Dozens of Israeli journalists took to the streets on Sunday to protest last week’s decision by the attorney general to indict a reporter on charges of unauthorized possession of state secrets.
Demonstrating across the road from the Justice Ministry, protesters called the indictment of Haaretz reporter Uri Blau a gag on all journalists and claimed that anyone in the media in possession of a confidential document could expect to be similarly indicted.
The reporters held up banners reading: “Investigative journalism is not a crime,” and “The country needs investigative journalists, not court reporters.”
Blau’s indictment is a result of the case in which ex-IDF soldier Anat Kamm stole secret military documents during her military service and leaked them to Blau in 2006. In 2008, Blau published details about targeted killings from some of the documents in a series of articles that led investigators directly to Kamm. She was arrested in 2010 for espionage, and in February 2011 Kamm entered into a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to leaking state secrets in return for not being charged with damaging national security. In October 2011 she was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and 18 months’ probation.
Blau is accused only of being in possession of secret material without intention to harm the state. Citing considerations of freedom of the press, balanced against the advice of the Prison Service and the police who noted the extreme nature of Blau’s activities, the Attorney-General’s Office announced last Wednesday its decision to press charges.
A Justice Ministry press release noted that the content of the material that Blau held had the potential to cause “enormous” damage to the state or endanger the lives of soldiers, had it fallen into enemy hands.
Haaretz’s editorial board said in response that the decision to prosecute Blau would hamper freedom of the press, especially that of journalists covering the defense establishment, in an “unfortunate and unprecedented” manner.
The Times of Israel Community.