Germany Officially Drops Ridiculous 'Treason' Investigation Into Netzpolitik

from the took-long-enough dept

Last month, we wrote about how German officials were investigating the German news site Netzpolitik (which covers a lot of the same things that Techdirt covers) for treason. That was because of a few stories on Netzpolitik that published whistleblowing documents on plans to expand Germany's internet surveillance powers. The investigation resulted in widespread protests by people concerned about the chilling effects created by investigating reporters for possible treason for merely reporting on the news.

There was also plenty of disagreement within the government itself, with the German Justice Minister expressing his disapproval of the investigation and eventually firing the prosecutor after that prosecutor accused the Justice Minister of "encroaching" on his independence.

Now, a week later, German prosecutors have officially dropped the investigation, though it still raises questions about why it was started in the first place.

On Monday the federal prosecutor’s office said it was closing the case because it believed the leaked documents on which the website’s reports were based were not a “state secret”, and that other conditions for treason charges had not been met.

Thankfully, Markus Beckedahl, the editor-in-chief of Netzpolitik, does not want the matter to end there either. He wants to know why the investigation began in the first place:

Beckedahl suggested the decision to drop the inquiry was not enough. “We want to know precisely whether we were subject to surveillance measures during the almost three-month investigation,” he said. Beckedahl said he hoped the case would motivate authorities to improve protection for whistleblowers in Germany.

Hopefully, this does lead to much better protection for both journalists and whistleblowers.

Filed Under: germany, investigation, journalism, treason, whistleblowers
Companies: netzpolitik

Hundreds Of Journalists, Researchers, Concerned Citizens Sign Letter Protesting Netzpolitik 'Treason' Investigation

from the sign-the-letter dept

We've written a few times now about how the news site Netzpolitik has been investigated for treason for reporting on some efforts to expand German internet surveillance. The site published the leaked documents supporting that claim, which would be clearly protected by the First Amendment here in the US. However, in Germany, it resulted in a treason investigation... and widespread protests as people are quite rightly concerned about the chilling effects of targeting journalists. There's also been some political mudslinging as there's been some debate over whether or not the investigation should move forward.

Now a bunch of people (including me) have signed an open letter protesting the investigation. The statement is quite short and to the point:

"The investigation against Netzpolitik.org for treason and their unknown sources is an attack against the free press. Charges of treason against journalists performing their essential work is a violation of the fifth article of the German constitution. We demand an end to the investigation into Netzpolitik.org and their unknown sources."

You can also see the statement in a variety of other languages as well. The statement has received many hundreds of signatures already and you can add your name as well.

Filed Under: free speech, germany, journalism, surveillance, treason, whistleblower
Companies: netzpolitik

German Justice Minister Fires Top Prosecutor Over 'Treason' Probe Into Journalists After War Of Words

from the escalation-issue dept

We've written a couple stories already about the ridiculous (and chilling) decision by German prosecutors to investigate the news site Netzpolitik for treason in publishing a couple of stories about plans to expand German surveillance capabilities and powers, with whistleblowers as sources. Things have become fairly heated over the past few days and appear to have just resulted in the country's Justice Minister firing the top prosecutor behind the investigation.

On Friday, Justice Minister Heiko Maas said publicly that he didn't think the investigation was appropriate and that he had told the chief federal prosecutor Harald Range exactly that. Following this, Range announced that he was pausing the investigation "for the good of press and media freedom," but then lashed out angrily at Maas, saying that his statements were "an intolerable encroachment on the independence of the judiciary." Details of internal discussions quickly slipped out into the public, after Range had told Maas he was intending to continue the investigation after an "independent" expert he had brought on determined that the documents revealed by Netzpolitik did contain state secrets.

[Range] said the independent expert had agreed that the documents appeared to be state secrets, as asserted by domestic security agency chief Hans-Georg Maassen.

Range said he had informed the justice minister of this but was told "to immediately stop" the process of commissioning outside advice.

The chief prosecutor said he had complied, but he added angrily that "to exert influence on an investigation because its possible outcome may not be politically opportune represents an intolerable encroachment on the independence of the judiciary".

"I saw myself obliged to inform the public about this," he added in a statement.

On the broader Netzpolitik case, he said: "The freedom of the press and of expression is a valuable asset.

"But this freedom, including on the Internet, is not limitless. It does not absolve journalists of the duty to comply with the law."

And... in response to that, it appears that Maas has fired Range:

"I have told federal prosecutor Range that my trust in his ability to fulfill the office has suffered lasting damage and therefore in agreement with the Chancellery I will request his retirement today," Maas told reporters in Berlin.

Maas also claims that Range's statement about Maas telling him to stop commissioning outside advice was "false."

The whole thing appears to have turned into quite the soap opera. Over the weekend, I had a long discussion about this case with someone quite knowledgeable about German law and legal process, who noted that the situation may not be quite as troubling as some are making it out to be, because all of this needs to happen in public under German law (including the notification of the investigation) unlike the American system, under which a grand jury can proceed with an investigation for years in total secrecy. And while the publicity around this investigation appears to be having an impact on (hopefully) curtailing and ending this investigation, it does not change the fact that the investigation happened in the first place, or the kind of chilling effects that it is clearly creating for journalists and whistleblowers alike.

Filed Under: constitutional crisis, free press, free speech, germany, harald range, heiko maas, investigation, treason
Companies: netzpolitik