Reporter defeats gov. intimidation

By Evan Derkacz

AlterNet, Posted on January 30, 2007

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/evan/47411/

Sarah Olson, the independent journalist who interviewed Lt. Ehren Watada, an
officer who refuses to deploy to Iraq, took a stand when the U.S. Army began
to use her interview to build its case against him, even subpoenaing her to
testify.

On AlterNet recently, she wrote: Among multiple issues this raises, the
circumstance begs a central question: Doesn't it fly in the face of the
First Amendment
to compel a journalist to participate in a government prosecution against a
source, particularly in matters related to personal political speech?

The intention is obvious. In the case against Lieutenant Watada, the U.S.
Army is attempting to use a journalist as an investigative tool for their
prosecution.
In this case, the journalist is me. And I wholly object to this attempt at
eliciting my forced and unconstitutional participation.

Yesterday, the Honolulu Advertiser reported that the government has dropped
two of the charges against Watada, who agreed upfront to all the questions
that
would've been asked to Olson.

Olson, who will no longer have to testify, wrote:

This is obviously a great victory for the principles of a free press that
are so essential to this nation. Personally, I am pleased that the Army no
longer
seeks my participation in their prosecution of Lieutenant Watada. Far more
importantly, this should be seen as a victory for the rights of journalists
in the U.S. to gather and disseminate news free from government
intervention, and for the rights of individuals to express personal,
political opinions
to journalists without fear of retribution or censure. I am glad the growing
number of dissenting voices within the military will retain their rights to
speak with reporters. But I note with concern that Lt. Watada still faces
prosecution for exercising his First Amendment rights during public
presentations.
However, the preservation of these rights clearly requires vigilance.
Journalists are subpoenaed with an alarming frequency, and when they do not
cooperate
they are sometimes imprisoned. Videographer Josh Wolf has languished in
federal prison for over 160 days, after refusing to give federal grand jury
investigators
his unpublished video out takes. It is clear that we must continue to demand
that the separation between press and government be strong, and that the
press
be a platform for all perspectives, regardless of their popularity with the
current administration.

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of
blogs.

Gathered by Sylvie K
Posted by Miriam V.