Goldsmith denies gag attempt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/st...html?gusrc=rss
Clare Dyer and Richard Norton-Taylor
Saturday November 26, 2005
The Guardian
The attorney general mounted a robust defence yesterday of his advice to newspapers that they risked breaching the Official Secrets Act if they published details from a confidential memo reportedly detailing a conversation between George Bush and Tony Blair.
Lord Goldsmith insisted he was acting on his own initiative and was not attempting to gag newspapers but merely pointing out the legal position. His warning was sent out after the Daily Mirror said a memo recorded a threat by the US president to take "military action" against the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera. The prime minister replied that that would cause a big problem, according to the Mirror.
David Keogh, a former Cabinet Office official, and Leo O'Connor, a researcher, are to appear before Bow Street magistrates next week on charges under the Official Secrets Act.
The attorney general's note said: "You are reminded that to publish the contents of a document which is known to have been unlawfully disclosed by a crown servant is in itself a breach of section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1989." Lord Goldsmith said he was acting on his own initiative in sending the notice. "I'm not acting at the request or under the instructions of anybody else in relation to this."
To succeed in a newspaper prosecution under section 5 of the act, it must be proved that the disclosure was damaging to the state and that the paper knew this.
A QC specialising in media law said: "If the material has already been published it's pretty hard to see how the subsequent publication of the same material will either amount to a disclosure - because how can you disclose something that's already been circulated? - or satisfy the test that the publication is damaging."
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