Ex-GCHQ woman charged over 'leak'

[2pac Shakur]

A woman sacked by UK intelligence after a top secret memo was allegedly leaked to the press has been charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Katharine Teresa Gun, 29, was first arrested in March after a memo from US monitoring body the National Security Agency was sent to the Observer.

Ms Gun has said any disclosures she may have made were "justified".

She was charged at Cheltenham Police Station and bailed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates on November 27.

Surge in eavesdropping

The January 31 memo received by the Observer reportedly said the NSA had begun a "surge" in eavesdropping on UN Security Council countries about to vote on action in Iraq.

Officials from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria, Guinea and Pakistan all had their phones tapped in what the newspaper described as a "dirty tricks" operation.

The author of the memo was supposedly Frank Koza, Defence Chief of Staff (Regional Targets) at the agency.

Under Section 1, of the 1989 Officials Secret Act it is an offence to disclose security and intelligence information without the correct authorisation.

Ms Gun has justified the disclosures saying in a statement that she had "only ever followed her conscience".

"No-one has suggested (nor could they), that any payment was sought or given for any alleged disclosures," she said in the statement released through her lawyers.

Disclosures "exposed wrongdoing"

Ms Gun claimed any alleged leaks exposed "serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the US Government" and were designed to prevent "wide-scale death and casualties among ordinary Iraqi people and UK forces".

A spokesman for the Government's communications headquarters at Cheltenham confirmed Ms Gun had worked for the organisation but said it "was a matter for the Metropolitan Police" who charged her.

A spokesman for Liberty claimed the case was likely to put the legality of the whole war on Iraq on trial.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3268113.stm

[whisper]

A spokesman for Liberty claimed the case was likely to put the legality of the whole war on Iraq on trial.

Wow, that has to be one of the silliest comments in the world. Try to blow your clients importance up any more! Besides, why stop just at the legality of the Iraq war. Why not say the legality of Bush's election? That mights still be too light. Why not say the existence of God on trial?

------

Seriously though, I hope the woman who is charged didn't benefit in any way from the disclosure of this information. She may be protected by whistle-blower laws if that is true. It is a much uglier case if she did profit from this.

[4sigma]

Originally Posted by 2Pac Shakur

Too bad she got fired. I believe there may be a position available for her with the Palm Beach County prosecutor's office.

[Paddyboy1]

Or perhaps in the Bush administration as special counsel to the deputy Democrat spy-identity leaker. Funny how we don't here much about that anymore. We have someone in the administration leaking our spies in charge of tracking weapons of mass destruction and GWB does nothing about it (except waiting months until it goes public to start an investigation when forced by law). But then we get an Islamic army minister possessing pornography and he's courtmartialed?

It seems to me that causing trouble for people perceived to threaten our national security is one of the two hallmarks of this administration (along with fiscal irresponsibility). But not a peep from GWB about the enemy within.

[2pac Shakur]

British spy op wrecked peace move

Martin Bright, Peter Beaumont and Jo Tuckman in Mexico
Sunday February 15, 2004
The Observer

A joint British and American spying operation at the United Nations scuppered a last-ditch initiative to avert the invasion of Iraq, The Observer can reveal.
Senior UN diplomats from Mexico and Chile provided new evidence last week that their missions were spied on, in direct contravention of international law.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/...148622,00.html

[2pac Shakur]

The details of the U.S./UK espionage operation were exposed last March by the brave (and beautiful!) Katharine Gun, a former employee of the Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, Tony Blair's eavesdropping center. She faces up to two years in jail for leaking this memo from National Security Agency honcho Frank Koza to NSA personnel and "a friendly foreign intelligence agency," (i.e., British spooks). The memo describes a "surge" in surveillance efforts "against UNSC members Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea, as well as extra focus on Pakistan UN matters."

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/

[Tim><]

Talk about a name forcing someone into a particular line of worth. She should be glad she is not on trial for armed robbery. I would love to be that DA:

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense would have you believe that Ms. Gun (pause) did not rob the 7-11 at gunpoint, tha Ms. Gun (pause) was not at the 7-11 at the night in question, that Ms. Gun (pause) doesn't even own a gun.

[O. Hannah]

Saw a car once in a major US city. Pimped out honda...fancy rims, tinted windows, tricked out...the works....license plate read Dr Weed.

Hmmmmm I figure he probably averaged about 7 blocks between traffic stops....what an idiot.