The Guardian Newspaper Could Face Terrorism Charges for Publishing Snowden Docs
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Luke MacGregorBy Giuseppe Macri.
Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism head told parliament Tuesday that the UK-based Guardian newspaper could face terrorism charges for publishing secret surveillance material leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick testified before Parliament about the investigation shortly after Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger’s hearing, where he stated the newspaper had only released one percent of the Snowden documents so far.
“It appears possible that some people may have committed offenses. We need to establish whether they have or haven’t. That involves scoping a huge amount of material,” Dick said according to The Guardian.
Dick told British lawmakers the newspaper might have violated laws for moving and writing about secret documents that could have the potential to endanger the lives of British spies.
Read more from this story HERE.
_____________________________________________________
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images Guardian editor defends publication of Snowden files
By Anthony Faiola.
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on Tuesday vigorously defended his decision to publish a series of articles based on the secret files leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, telling a parliamentary committee that the right to continue pursuing the story goes to the heart of press freedoms and democracy in Britain.
Rusbridger also told lawmakers that the Guardian had published only 1 percent of the 58,000 files it had received from Snowden.
“I would not expect us to be publishing a huge amount more,” he said.
The hearing on the Guardian’s handling of intelligence data leaked by Snowden, who is living in self-imposed exile in Moscow, drew the attention of free-speech advocates on both sides of the Atlantic. Rusbridger faced more than an hour of questioning during the Home Affairs Select Committee’s counterterrorism hearing, testifying in an occasionally combative public grilling of both the Guardian and its editor.
Along with The Washington Post, the Guardian — a London-based news outlet with a print circulation under 200,000 but online readers numbering in the many millions — was the first to publish reports based on the Snowden leaks. In response, British authorities have acted far more aggressively than U.S. or other European officials, launching what Rusbridger and international free-speech advocates have decried as a campaign of “intimidation” against the paper. Actions taken include the coerced destruction of Snowden data being held at the Guardian’s London headquarters and public denunciations by Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as the decision to summon Rusbridger for questioning by lawmakers on Tuesday.
Read more from this story HERE.
