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POLICE IN AUSTRALIA have raided the headquarters of public broadcaster ABC - the second high-profile probe into news outlets in 24 hours.
ABC executives said police searched the corporation’s offices in Sydney today, targeting three journalists involved in a two-year-old investigative report.
In 2017, ABC obtained government documents that showed Australian special forces had killed innocent men and children in Afghanistan.
The Australian Federal Police said the search was “in relation to allegations of publishing classified material, contrary to provisions of the Crimes Act 1914.”
ABC executive editor John Lyons said the search warrant demands access to reporters’ handwritten notes, emails, story drafts, footage and passwords, among other things.
“It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be raided in this way,” said managing director David Anderson, as the organisation tried to win legal redress.
A day earlier police raided a journalist’s home in Canberra over a report that detailed the authorities’ bid to gain powers to spy on Australian citizens communications at home.
Both stories involved sensitive and potentially classified materials and were embarrassing to the Australian authorities and the security services in particular.
‘Still staggered’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to distance himself from the raids, which come just days after his re-election, insisting they were police, not government, matters.
“Australia believes strongly in the freedom of the press and we have clear rules and protections for the freedom of the press,” he said during a visit to London.
“There are also clear rules protecting Australia’s national security and everybody should operate in accordance with all of those laws passed by our parliament.”
Shadow Home Affairs minister, the Labor party’s Kristina Keneally, demanded an explanation about why the raids occurred.
“Protecting our national security is complex work, but it always must have the right checks and balances.”
Although the press in Australia can report largely free of political interference, strict defamation laws, court gag orders and state security statutes affect what can be said in print and broadcast.
ABC’s Lyons said on Twitter that he was “still staggered by the power of this warrant.”
“It allows the AFP to ‘add, copy, delete or alter” material in the ABC’s computers. All Australians, please think about that: as of this moment, the AFP has the power to delete material in the ABC’s computers. Australia 2019.”
AFP: I’m still staggered by the power of this warrant. It allows the AFP to “add, copy, delete or alter” material in the ABC’s computers. All Australians, please think about that: as of this moment, the AFP has the power to delete material in the ABC’s computers. Australia 2019.
— John Lyons (@TheLyonsDen) June 5, 2019
Australia’s Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union branded the raids a “disturbing attempt to intimidate legitimate news journalism that is in the public interest.”
“Police raiding journalists is becoming normalised and it has to stop… it seems that when the truth embarrasses the government, the result is the Federal Police will come knocking at your door.”
The raid comes one week after an investigation into two journalists involved in a documentary about the 1994 Loughinisland massacre in Northern Ireland was dropped.
Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey were arrested last September by police over the alleged theft of the confidential documents but were released on bail.
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Political interference in national broadcaster..
Glad we’re in Ireland…
@Willy: ha there’s no need for that over here…very compliant already.
@Chemical Brothers: now lads,in all fairness, “primetime investigates” is razor sharp,and for a while there,nothing was tackled until they highlighted it, then the inquires began…credit where its due ?
@Willy: Between Julianne Assange and the arrests of the journalists and gagging orders pit on them in relation to the documentary No stone unturned detailing police collusion in mass murder, the documentary maker Sean McCann receiving death threats for the Unquiet graves documentary, people should be getting very worried.
@Gerry Campbell: Here’s a link to a YouTube channel with 19 videos from the Dáil chamber & PAC.
2 x Taoiseach, Tainiste & leaders of opposition all discuss untimely deaths & serious health issues of men who worked in #IrishAirCorps.
Please showed me a single link to Prime Time or indeed RTE where they even briefly covered this tragedy.
RTE don’t do men’s health scandals.
@Gerry Campbell: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZaOJiRVFqQRHk8y0mrVSrA
@Willy: Take it you are being sarcastic.
@Willy: You are forgetting “GUBU”
Assange hounded for years, snowden exiled to Russia, manning locked up, the two lads up north lifted for documentary making, more documentary making crimes from down under reported here. Beginning to understand the propensity for click bait and filler in modern publications, actual journalism has become a very dangerous pursuit.
@winston smith: So woke.
@winston smith: Considering what the PSNI (and our new Garda Commissioner was assistant chief at the time) carried out dawn raids, impounded every phone, computer and paper record of two journalists. On top of that, they issued orders forbidding them travelling down South and put gagging orders on them. Our press stayed silent. The judges last week said the warrants and orders were illegal. Akin to a police state. I am sure everyone must be sick of hearing about it in the mainstream media here at this stage … or maybe you missed it because the press and journalists here turned a blind eye to it. Very dangerous road we are going down.
@Cal Mooney: is there any chance that the silence from our press was linked to to gag order? Just a thought
@Dave O’Keeffe: possibly, but the journal did do 2 minor pieces on it over the last 18 months. No real detail. So either there was no get order (which I suspect was the case, given the BBC and RT consistently reported on it and it was in british jurisdiction) or the media in general in the South don’t want to ask questions that need to be answered. For crying out loud, no one got arrested in Australia, compare that to what these documentary makers have been put through for highlighting police facilitation of mass murder.
‘Add, copy, delete or alter’ that’s a damn powerful warrant.
Sounds like they can freely bug the computers too.
@Bluechip78: that is probably the scariest term I have ever seen referenced in a search warrant and is in effect permission from the judiciary to sanction state censorship. The term ‘copy’ is the only one that can be even contemplated for evidential reasons, ‘delete’ if there really are national security issues, but on extremely shaky grounds. ‘Add’ and ‘alter’ can only be for censorship and judicial/political control of a supposedly free press
@Vocal Outrage: alter is the dangerous one….alter today ,come back tomorrow and arrest you for whats on the altered material,now thats handy.
@Bluechip78: yep Australia and also sneaked thru legislation to effectively allow security services legit back door for all cyber ( akin to nsa in united states that get into all us companies like google facebook and apple to get anything they want ) which never made the international media radar because trump was was probably tweeting about his breakfast that day distracted the masses ;)
@Dave Hammond: the word ‘alter’ appears as it had been argued in many courts that by simple copying a file it had been ‘altered’ in the process.
I would be more concerned with the word ‘delete’ if it does indeed exist on the warrant. Only have the targets word for that
Freedom of the press used to mean an investigative press, which at least some level was a means of holding those in power to account for both their words and actions, shining a light on the dark places those in power wanted to keep hidden. Investagative journalists used to be held up as champions for truth and justice.
Freedom of the press right today means, the freedom to publish prepared press releases without question and no accountability whatsoever for those in power.
Today an investigative journalist or publisher pushing against those boundaries, is vilified as a either a cyber terrorist, hacker, enemy of the state, or all three, to act as a warning to any others that might consider looking behind the curtains of power.
@David Van-Standen: https://i.imgtc.ws/vQff2oe.jpg
@David Van-Standen: maybe, just maybe it’s expected that someone working for a private company should be accountable as well?
Piers Morgan springs to mind. He was in the press. What about Claas Relotius? Lied for years to live his own pocket.
You call for the authorities to be accountable but in doing so demand no accountability in the press
@David Van-Standen: The warrant seems excessive but we don’t really know what national security boundaries the media were crossing. There is No absolute right to publish information. The media have to act within the law as well. Nonetheless it is always disturbing to see such cases. A free media is essential to a functioning democracy. Let’s see where this leads. Australia has been heading in a more right wing direction for years. They follow the US model in many ways. But wherever you have a substantial military (never mind nuclear) and national intelligence security apparatus these issues emerge. Ireland, by and large, does not have such an apparatus. Thank goodness.
Its about time they cracked down on certain sections of the media.they seem to be a law unto themselves and can print what they like.
@Seriously stunned: sure aren’t all the best societies always based on crackdowns on the media.
@Seriously stunned: this could also translate to .. “nothing to see here, move along, nothing to see here”
@Seriously stunned: yeah how dare they report on the alleged murder of innocents by the military!
@Seriously stunned: Agree… Can’t wait until the offices of the Irish Indpendant and R.T.E. are raided.
@Donal Desmond: You are forgetting “GUBU” ?
The End is nigh ! …. It will occur on the …REDACTED … sorry not allowed to reveal this information.
The media was complicit in smearing and persecuting Julian Assange inclusively by making up fake stories . They thought it wouldn’t affect them . As horrible as this is this time I have to say : we told you so .
@Isabel Oliveira: what a ridiculous comment. It’s to your usual standard though so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
@Isabel Oliveira: Assange didn’t need to be “smeared”. He was quite capable of doing this to himself and he colluded with Russia. He’s no hero.
@John R: Probably on Trumps orders. Assange got the truth out..Pentagon papers published years ago was a game changer… The powers that be will always go to any lengths to stop the truth from bring published.
I hope today’s episode of Neighbours wasn’t seized!
Animals.
ABC know the rules, if they adhered to them there’s nothing to worry about and the government will get a kicking. If they didn’t play by the rules ABC and the journalists will get a kicking.
@Thewestisbest: it’s a shame that no one is censoring you
@Thewestisbest: what rules would you diggedt, only Govt sanctioned press releases and anything that embarrasses the authorities is illegal? As yes, that has worked out so well in the past
@Thewestisbest: “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to distance himself from the raids”
If the Prime Minister is trying to distance himself from the police on this, that’s a good indication they were not by the book.
However, there is no guarantee that the State or the police will be held accountable.
Your post is an example of what should happen rather then what will.
@Thewestisbest: oh look someone who enjoys reading state sanctioned press releases only !
Journalists write stories about the police without proof, that’s accountability.
Police raid a newspaper, that’s censorship.
Let me all you, if your car was being robbed or your wife being assaulted, would you call a journalist or a cop?
@James Stephens: a cop, because it’s a cops job to deal with such matters. If I wanted a letter delivered to a specified address I’d use a postman rather than a journalist, but if that postman was up to no good in other aspects of his life I wouldn’t expect that the fact he delivered a letter successfully on my behalf would make him immune from scrutiny. Do you think the fact cops do the job for which they are paid means they should be immune from scrutiny? Seems like a strange philosophy really.
@James Stephens: Depends if I was being robbed by the cops or my wife was being assaulted by the cops?
George Orwell’s book; “1984”, springs to mind
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