@Finn dAbuzz,
You just have more trust in your government than I do, Finn. Good for you!
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I tell you about a German case that took place in 1962. The publisher of DER SPIEGEL, Rudolph Augstein, was jailed for 3 months because he published a
story about the German defense capabilities in the military. He was accused of exposing secret state information and therefore indicted.
At the trial the courts had no choice than to abide the law - freedom of press
was considered to be more important than the outrage of all politicians and
ultimately it wasn't the media and DER SPIEGEL who felt the heat, it was
the government who was not able to keep secret documents under wrap.
Every government is allowed to have secrets, definitely! Yet, every citizen
and non-citizen has the right to disclose such secrets, should the government
fail to keep it secret. In other words, it is part of the government's responsibility to protect sensitive material, but you cannot legally enforce disclosure, should it take place.
This is also practiced in the United States and a prime example is Valerie Palme. Was the journalist who reported that she was a CIA agent, jailed?
No, the government source who gave the information was prosecuted,
as it should be.
Same with Assange, he is the journalist who leaked government cables
that were supplied to him by government sources. Therefore, not Assange
but these government sources should be prosecuted.
