British police draws flak over media leaks warning
BRITISH police drew criticism on Saturday for a warning to journalists during a probe into a leak that led to the resignation of the ambassador to Washington.
Neil Basu, assistant commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, had adv ised media out lets “not to publish lea ked government documents”, say ing to do so “may be a criminal matter”.
The warning came as police announced that they were investigating the leak of diplomatic reports from Britain’s ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch, which prompted outrage from US President Donald Trump and forced the envoy to quit.
Boris Johnson, the favourite to take over as Britain’s new prime minister this month, said prosecuting media outlets would have “a chilling effect on public debate”.
Johnson, himself a journalist and former editor, said the Darroch leaks were “embarrassing but it is not a threat to national security”.
“It is the duty of media organisations to bring new and interesting facts into the public domain,” he said while campaigning for the leadership of the ruling Conservatives.
Fellow Conservative member of parliament Bob Seely, who sits on parliament’s foreign affairs committee, also said the police should “think again about that”.
Tim Shipman, a senior journa list at t he Sunday Times newspaper k nown for his politica l scoops, said t he police statement was “sinister, absurd, anti-democratic”.
“Do you have any comprehension of a free society? This isn’t Russia,” he asked the Metropolitan Police on Twitter.
However, former defence minister Michael Fallon said journalists receiving stolen material “should give it back to their rightful owner”.
“They should also be aware of the huge damage that has already been done and the potentially even greater damage to be done by further breaches of the Official Secrets Act,” he said.
The Darroch leaks were published by the Mail on Sunday newspaper last weekend, and officials were braced for more revelations on Sunday.
The Foreign Office launched an investigation into how the documents were made public, but the police investigation raises the stakes.
Basu insisted on Saturday the police had “no intention of seeking to prevent editors from publishing stories in the public interest”.
He said the focus of the police investigation was identifying who leaked the documents.
“However, we have also been told the publication of these specific documents – now knowing they may be a breach of the Official Secrets Act – could also constitute a criminal offence and one that carries no public interest defence,” he said.
“We k now t he s e do c u ment s a nd potent ia l ly ot hers rema i n i n circulat ion.
“We have a duty to prevent as well as detect crime and the previous statement was intended to alert to the risk of breaching the Official Secrets Act.”