Secrecy and news. These things are against odds in recent years with the public being aware of just how much we do not know courtesy of the Snowden leaks. In Germany, there is an investigation into the digital rights news site Netzpolitik.org, or rather two journalists, who are charged with treason.
Earlier this year Netzpolitik published two leaked documents detailing the plans by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to expand surveillance of social networks. The head of the German intelligence services, Hans-Georg Massen, has defended the idea of bringing criminal charges to the sites writers. It should be noted that he is also the president fo the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The investigation began with just those responsible for the leaks but was expanded to include Netzpolitik journalists. The idea of journalists being under investigation for treason caught wind and ended with a lot of people expressing their dislike of the matter, including Correctiv.rog who not only republished the leaked documents but then reported themselves to Germany’s prosecutor general.
With politicians such as Renate Künast (leading Green MP) calling the investigation a “humiliation of the rule of law”, the matter will only continue to gather favour and the public opinion and action will impact on the government’s decisions.
The trial is currently halted courtesy of the Prosecutor general, Harald range, who has stated that he will “await the results of an internal investigation into whether the journalists from the news platform netzpolitik.org had quoted from a classified intelligence report before deciding how to proceed.”
Thank you Ars Technica for the information.
Image courtesy of Sebaso.
