Israel Matzav

Of course: Journalists' association to protest Blau indictment

The Jerusalem Journalists' Association is going to hold a demonstration to protest Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein's decision to indict Haaretz reporter Uri Blau. This is from the first link.

In a statement released Thursday, Jerusalem Journalists Association said the decision to indict a journalist for holding classified documents set a dangerous precedent for press freedom in the country and called on all its members to join the protest on Sunday.

The attorney-general said he had carefully considered arguments Blau’s attorneys had put forward, but had decided to reject them.

Blau is to be charged under the Penal Code with aggravated espionage, which stipulates that obtaining, collecting, preparing, recording or keeping secret information without authorization, but without intent to harm state security, is punishable by seven years in prison.

In a statement, Weinstein noted that though Blau was being charged under the “aggravated espionage” clause, the indictment would not attribute the offense of “espionage” to him in the traditional sense of that term.

As a result of Weinstein’s decision, the Tel Aviv district attorney is expected to file an indictment against Blau in the Tel Aviv District Court within a few weeks.

The attorney-general explained that before deciding to indict the reporter, he had taken into account “all the relevant considerations,” which he said included the need to preserve the character of a free press and allow the media to carry out its “essential role” in ensuring the public’s “right to know.”

If the mainstream media here were really interested in the public's right to know and not in pursuing an agenda, I might be more sympathetic. But the mainstream media here pursues a radical Leftist agenda, and having a reporter - particularly from Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily - holding a classified document, is a danger to state security. That is a precedent that cannot be allowed to be set.

Labels: Anat Kam, journalists, mainstream media, Uri Blau

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:40 PM