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CounterPunch
September
4, 2002
Attacking the
Press After 9/11
Danish Police are Wiretapping Reporters
by Steen Sohn
Last week the Danish public was informed that
police had been listening in on private telephone conversations
made by a journalist from the newspaper "Jyllands-Posten".
It is the second largest news paper in the country and ironically
quite close to the present rightist government.
The tapping happened after reporter Stig
Mathiessen and his paper weeks ago told the police that rumour
had it that a "death list" on Danish Jews is circulating
in fundamentalist Muslim circles. Kill a Jew and get a 30 000
dollars reward. The reporter could not inform the police on the
name of his source, but was able to mention a number of Jews
on the list. Some of these are now under police protection.
Unable to make the reporter divulge the
name the police started wiretapping the private phone of Mathiessen
in order to get the wanted information. Tapes from this operation
were played in a secret court session and on this background
the D.A. demanded that the reporter handed over the name. He
refused and appealed the case, which will be central to journalists
right to protect their sources.
Protest is widespread. The International
Federation of Journalists, IFJ, calls it an abuse of power
and says, "it reflects the contempt that some senior officers
have for the rights of journalists and media". IFJ General
Secretary, Aiden White, said last week: "Once again the
authorities are using the media for 'fishing' expeditions for
evidence and are violating fundamental rights in the process".
In a joint letter Friday the largest
newspapers and TV-stations in Denmark demanded an explanation
from Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is also Minister
of the Press. They argued that mere suspicion of wiretapping
would make some sources dry out - and thus damage the freedom
of expression and the free press.
Rasmussen's answer doesn't satisfy the
Danish media. He just mentions the "serious character of
the case" and that he can't be part of an ongoing police
investigation. Off course the Government is all for freedom of
the press but the possibility of solving serious crimes has to
be considered too, soHe also refused to open an investigation
of the affair.
Oluf Jorgensen, press law specialist
at The Danish School of Journalism, fears that the court ruling
will lead to an increased use of wiretapping of journalists by
the police. In the wake of 9/11 the Danish Government introduced
a so-called Terror Package that increased the power of the police
to investigate information the media may possess. Oluf Jorgensen
tells the newspaper "Politiken" that he fears
the new court ruling will weaken journalists right to protect
their sources.
'The War on Terror' already had lots
of casualties. Freedom of the press may soon be added to the
list.
Steen Sohn
is a free lance writer living in Aarhus, Denmark. He can be reached
at stsohn@mail.djh.dk
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