Shipbuilder threatens action to stop reports
NEW DELHI: An Australian newspaper that broke the story on document leaks concerning six Scorpene submarines being built for India said on Sunday a French shipbuilder at the centre of the scandal has threatened legal action “to prevent further publication of the information contained in 22,400 secret documents”.
French naval contractor DCNS was left reeling after details from the documents relating to the submarines were published in The Australian newspaper this week, sparking concerns about its ability to protect sensitive information.
On Saturday, the journalist who reported the leak said the material posted online by his newspaper was “just the tip of the iceberg ,” cautioning India that the data’s interception by foreign intelligence agencies in its original form could be damaging.
“The move by DCNS (to threaten legal action)… comes as a former commander of the US Pacific Fleet Submarine Force warned that the Scorpene leaks scandal would undermine confidence in the ability of French companies to protect classified information,” The Australian reported on Sunday.
“The company is also seeking a court order to force The Australian to hand over the documents and remove them from its website,” it added.
The French shipbuilder said earlier this week that the leak bore the hallmarks of “economic warfare” carried out by frustrated competitors.
The secret data on India’s Scorpene submarines was accessed by an unknown number of people working for a private company in a Southeast Asian country and even placed on an internet server where it was vulnerable to hacking and interception.
The leaked data, which has forced the Indian Navy to assess the vulnerability of Scorpene submarines ordered from DCNS under a $3.5 billion deal, is believed to have been “removed” from the firm in Paris in 2011 by a former French navy officer, according The Australian.
The whistleblower in the leaks plans to surrender the disk containing the documents to the Australian government on Monday and was quoted as saying: “In the wake of the recent future submarine decision (in Australia) this matter went from one of a very serious breach for both France and India to a matter of national security significance to Australia and the US.”