Exile: Sarah Harrison On Paying The Price For Helping Edward Snowden
from the journalist-or-terrorist? dept
One of the unsung heroines of the Snowden story is Sarah Harrison. A statement she published on WikiLeaks in November 2013 describes her role as follows:
As a journalist I have spent the last four months with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and arrived in Germany over the weekend. I worked in Hong Kong as part of the WikiLeaks team that brokered a number of asylum offers for Snowden and negotiated his safe exit from Hong Kong to take up his legal right to seek asylum. I was travelling with him on our way to Latin America when the United States revoked his passport, stranding him in Russia. For the next 39 days I remained with him in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where I assisted in his legal application to 21 countries for asylum, including Germany, successfully securing his asylum in Russia despite substantial pressure by the United States. I then remained with him until our team was confident that he had established himself and was free from the interference of any government.
Harrison has now written a fine piece for The Guardian about the consequences for her of providing support to Snowden and WikiLeaks:
I cannot return to England, my country, because of my journalistic work with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and at WikiLeaks. There are things I feel I cannot even write. For instance, if I were to say that I hoped my work at WikiLeaks would change government behaviour, this journalistic work could be considered a crime under the UK Terrorism Act of 2000.
She points out that she is not alone in suffering from the UK government's absurdly broad definition of "terrorism": Glenn Greenwald's partner David Miranda was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow airport, and Snowden's lawyer, Jesselyn Radack, was interrogated there too. But the knock-on effects for journalism in the UK are particularly serious:
The act gives a definition of terrorism as an act or threat "designed to influence the government", that "is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause" and that would pose a "serious risk" to the health or safety of a section of the public. UK government officials have continually asserted that this risk is present with the disclosure of any "classified" document.
Elsewhere the act says "the government" means the government of any country -- including the US. Britain has used this act to open a terrorism investigation relating to Snowden and the journalists who worked with him, and as a pretext to enter the Guardian's offices and demand the destruction of their Snowden-related hard drives. Britain is turning into a country that can't tell its terrorists from its journalists.If Britain is going to investigate journalists as terrorists take and destroy our documents, force us to give up passwords and answer questions -- how can we be sure we can protect our sources? But this precedent is now set; no journalist can be certain that if they leave, enter or transit through the UK this will not happen to them.
One likely consequence of this is that international journalists will avoid passing through the UK on the way to their final destinations. More seriously, they may be unwilling to enter the UK to visit. Sadly, given the UK's increasingly besmirched reputation as a beacon of civilization with a free and effective press, that's likely to be viewed by the government there as more of a feature than a bug.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: ed snowden, exile, journalism, julian assange, sarah harrison, terrorism, uk
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Re: Voting
Quoting Sarah Harrison:"The act gives a definition of terrorism as an act or threat "designed to influence the government", that "is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause" and that would pose a "serious risk" to the health or safety of a section of the public."
Voting for the opposition at a general election seems to fall into the definition of "terrorism" according to this statement.
1. Designed to influence the government? Yes - in fact attempting to overthrow the government.
2. Made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause? Yes - promoting the political aims of the opposing party.
3. Pose a "serious risk" to the health or safety of a section of the public? Yes - listen to any raucous parliamentary debate in the House of Commons and it is clear that the party in power believes that the other side will serious damage the health of the nation or part of the population. Look like good character witnesses for any trial.
This legislation is a disgrace and needs repealing.
P.S. all my attempts to put in html tags just got stripped out when previewed. How do you make an indented blockquote?
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Usually in the form of unaffordable medicines due to patent monopolies, or contaminated drinking water due to fracking.
It's time to declare a war on lobbyists. They fit the definition of "terrorists", to the letter.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
UK Terrorism Law Terrible
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: UK Terrorism Law Terrible
Which doesn't mean they couldn't be deemed to in some cases, however...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: UK Terrorism Law Terrible
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That description classifies the entire UK political system as nothing but one massive terrorist organization. I wonder why UK politicians, not to mention, the United States Government, aren't listed as the largest worldwide terrorist organizations to ever operate on this planet.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The government is trying to get the UK back into the stone age, hence no 'advancing', hence they're no terrorists....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Those negotiating "corporate sovereignty" deals wouold certainly fit the definition.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
problem
" I worked in Hong Kong as part of the WikiLeaks team that brokered a number of asylum offers for Snowden and negotiated his safe exit from Hong Kong to take up his legal right to seek asylum."
Last time I looked, this was not a journalist's job, it's the job of someone working to protect someone from being arrested and forced to face justice.
If you think her actions are only that of a journalist, then you probably believe The Onion too.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
When it boils down to it, the UK government, from their parliament to all the official organisations under their authority, is starting to function more fully on the basis of despotism, fascism, and we may end up seeing it go to a dictatorship (if they can remove the Royal Family).
The only way this can be resolved is for people to stand at the next election and run for parliament to bring about change. You must remember that though the current prime minister believes he has the upper hand, he can be sacked by his boss - The Queen, or he can be removed in the party room by his own elected party members.
If at the next election his own electorate votes him out, he will have no position in parliament.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: problem
You are correct. I am however incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that she can wrap herself in the magic cloak of a journalist and we are suppose to ignore her other activities. The UK government doesn't care about her activities as a journalist, and it's incredibly self-serving and more than a little dishonest to do so.
What would happen if she was a butcher instead of a journalist? Would you say that the UK government has a thing against butchers, too?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: problem
Don't get me wrong, her actions were performed for a noble purpose, and my hat is off to her, but she can't expect to get away with all of her activities just because she's a journalist.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: problem
When a government is caught with its pants down, particularly when they are doing illegal activities, they get very upset and will do whatever they can to make the revealers suffer.
This is just one more example of this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: problem
> You are correct. I am however incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that she can wrap herself in the magic cloak of a journalist and we are suppose to ignore her other activities. The UK government doesn't care about her activities as a journalist, and it's incredibly self-serving and more than a little dishonest to do so.
The thing is: her "other activities" are essentially journalistic, and/or to enabling the kind of journalism we supposedly depend on in a democratic society -- ie. keeping the general public properly informed on matters of public policy and public interest.
If that's "activism", then it's precisely the sort of activism in which journalists are supposed to engage.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
(ARGH! Why aren't the style tags working???)
Justice? Snowden reveals that the US intelligence community is violating the Constitution in a massive way and he's branded a criminal. The intelligence agencies violate the Constitution, lie to Congress about it, have absolutely no accountability and break all sorts of law, but they're just fine and dandy?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: problem
Allowing the police to go door to door and search everyone's homes would catch a lot of illegal stuff. Are you in favor of such a change in the law?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
If imprisonment under a law against political reform is justice, then I would be proud to protect someone from being forced to face it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
The Government doesn't get to dictate/define when an individual feels terrorized.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
Your argument is a simple one but ignores the larger context, who really cares if she helped snowden? it doesn't matter, its a distraction to the fact that we just found out that two governments that are supposed to be 'free' have setup such intrinsic spying operations that even china is drooling.
If you agree with what the government are doing then just say so, but to suddenly argue that she is not a proper journalist because she helped snowden realy ignores the larger issue and is irrelevant to the problem at hand.
You should be VERY concerned that they are trying to use terrorism to shut down journalist, unless you like oppressive goverments. 10 years from now you could very well be saying long live the king, less you be charged with terrorism for wishing the king ill.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: problem
I am not claiming she isn't a proper journalist. I don't even reference her work as a journalist at all in my argument, far from it. Rather, the things that she did with Snowden, including helping him move into exile and staying with him to help him during his long hole up in Russian airport, have little to do with journalism and more to do with personal activism and personal choices.
Essentially, your argument is exactly the problem I am trying to cite. It's not about being a journalist, it's about being a person who helped someone evade law enforcement, and did so for an extended period of time.
Put another way, if she was writing a story about bank robbers or the guys pilfering bitcoins, would it be okay if she helped them escape after? Would it be acceptable for her to live off the avails of the crime for a while? Why does waving a journalist card suddenly make that sort of thing acceptable?
It's not her journalism that gets her in trouble, it's her activism. Nobody is trying to stop her being a journalist, but they certainly are upset at her for aiding and abetting a fleeing fugitive.
Oh, and I don't worry about the rest of your hyperbole. We as a people aren't going anywhere near there, no matter how many guy fawkes masks people try to wear.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: problem
The problem with your statement is not looking at what laws have been broken and why. At various times and in various places, including the USA, it has been illegal to help specific groups of people, because the law allows the persecution, enslavement or killing of people for various reasons.
In this case, it allows the prosecution of someone who has revealed GOVERNMENT ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. This is the salient point.
It is the government trying to hide its activities, which if you did, would land you in the deepest darkest prison.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: problem
Journalism (of any quality) is a form of activism. Anything else is just public relations (to paraphrase George Orwell).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: problem
if she acted like normal oldschool journalist, we wouldnt know the illegal activity and she would be arrested.
i bet your telling us an nsa talking point, ...common DDR tactics on desinformation
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Don't think you can get away with it because votes are supposedly secret. National security trumps privacy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Voting
"The act gives a definition of terrorism as an act or threat "designed to influence the government", that "is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause" and that would pose a "serious risk" to the health or safety of a section of the public."
Voting for the opposition at a general election seems to fall into the definition of "terrorism" according to this statement.
1. Designed to influence the government? Yes - in fact attempting to overthrow the government.
2. Made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause? Yes - promoting the political aims of the opposing party.
3. Pose a "serious risk" to the health or safety of a section of the public? Yes - listen to any raucous parliamentary debate in the House of Commons and it is clear that the party in power believes that the other side will serious damage the health of the nation or part of the population. Look like good character witnesses for any trial.
This legislation is a disgrace and needs repealing.
P.S. all my attempts to put in html tags just got stripped out when previewed. How do you make an indented blockquote?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hmm...
Front: I write encryption software
Back: And I am proud of it!
Or just=
Front: I know Truecrypt
Back: And I love it!
Tourists should brobaly not use them =(
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's sad...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No, it's glorious!
Good choice, Britains.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's sad...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Terrorism?
Do politicians get paid by the word?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Terrorism?
Once you build a society based on following the rules rather than logic laws become useless and arbitrary.
Your definition applies to plenty of things that a logical person would not consider terrorism (horror films, for example) and does not apply to things that are usually considered terrorism (revealing classified information isn't that scary, but can still get people killed). So to make your definition work you then have to define "terror" which has a different actual meaning than the meaning you're using in context.
Ah, context. The missing link in the American judicial system. Without context, everyone is a criminal according to the law. Which is reality today.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Terrorism?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Overbroad Laws
The overbroad laws effectively makes all citizens criminals who have not been convicted yet.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Test Message - HTML tags not working
bold
italic
emphasis
As has been noted elsewhere, none of the HTML tags above are working. Site manager may need to look at system.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Techdirt readers should understand the UK
This explains why so many UK representatives voted against the legislation.
It also partly explains Ms Harrison's predicament.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hacking scandal was badly timed
I dislike many things about the EU, but one thing I like is the declaration of rights. It saddens how many UK politicians see it as a negative.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]