STF NA MÍDIA

(of the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment); violinist
Susie Meszaros (of the Chilingirian
Quartet); and 16
other musicians.
The IPO s concert on 1 September
was barracked by
protesters so noisily that the
BBC suspended its live broadcast,
although the musicians
completed their performance
of works by Bruch,
Webern, Albeniz and
Rimsky-Korsakov, conducted
by Zubin Mehta.
Sarah Colborne, director of
the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, which organised
protests against the concert,
said: "Would the London
Philharmonic Orchestra have
punished musicians speaking
out against apartheid South
Africa, when a similar call
for boycott was supported by
artists, performers and sports
people internationally?
"It is staggeringly bad judgment
for the LPO to be seen
to be attacking musicians
who are simply voicing support
for human rights and
defending the civil right to
call for a boycott of institutions
which lend strategic support
to Israel s occupation.
"If the LPO really wishes not
to appear to be taking sides,
and supporting an occupying
nation against an occupied
people, it must end the ridiculous
suspension of these
four musicians immediately."
JUSTIÇA NO EXTERIOR •
THE GUARDIAN (LO) • NEWS • 16/9/2011
Threat to press freedom
Police officers investigating the crimes of News of the World journalists have misguidedly
looked to the Official Secrets Act for help
Geoffrey Robertson
The latest threat to press freedom
comes not as a result of
the crimes of News of the
World journalists, but from
the foolishness of police officers
charged with investigating
those crimes. They have
reached for the blunderbuss
of the Official Secrets Act
(1989) in a misguided attempt
to obtain access to the
sources of the information
about the hacking of Milly
Dowler obtained by Guardian
journalists in their coverage
of the scandal.
That coverage has exposed
not only the hackers but also
the incompetence of the police,
and it is no doubt for that
reason that Scotland Yard is
overzealous in its latest attempt
to discover their sources.
But it is doing so in a manner
unauthorised by law, which
requires protection for journalists
sources for the very
good reason that they would
dry up if informants promised
anonymity were to be
exposed and prosecuted.
This was established in the
leading case of Bill Goodwin
v UK, when a young reporter
who courageously refused
court orders to disclose his
source was vindicated by the
European court of human
rights, which held that the
watchdog role of the media
would be imperilled if government
agencies were able
to force disclosure of sources
in order to subject them to
reprisals. The spectacle of
Sarah Tisdall, the defence
department clerk cruelly jailed
for revealing the date of
the arrival of cruise missiles
at Greenham Common,
should never be allowed to
recur.
This attempt to get at the
Guardian s sources is not
only a blatant breach of the
human rights Act and article
10 of the convention, but it
appears to involve a misapplication
of the Official Secrets
Act. Section 4 of that
act protects information which
would impede the arrest
or prosecution of offenders,
and is appropriate for prosecuting
police officers who
sell intelligence or tip off
criminals.
S T F N A M Í D I A • 2 2 d e s e t e m b r o d e 2 0 1 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P Á G I N A 9 4