From The Guardian
A former GCHQ official exposed an American plan to eavesdrop on members of the UN security council, to try to prevent an illegal war leading to the deaths of British soldiers and Iraqi civilians, magistrates were told yesterday.Katharine Gun intends to deny breaching the Official Secrets Act, because she disclosed the information out of necessity. Mrs Gun, 29, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, appeared at Bow Street magistrates court in central London where her counsel, Ben Emmerson QC, said the case raised important issues of law and disclosure. He said GCHQ had imposed limits on what instructions she could give her defence lawyers, an action which was attacked by Amnesty International for being in breach of her human rights.
In a move which required the consent of Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, Mrs Gun was charged two weeks ago, eight months after she was arrested. She was sacked from her job as a GCHQ translator in June. She faces charges under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, which states that any serving or former member of the security and intelligence agencies is guilty of an offence for disclosing "any information" about their work without official authority. However, in a case brought by lawyers acting for the former MI5 officer David Shayler, the court of appeal last year ruled that the "necessity defence" was admissible under the Official Secrets Act in the event of an imminent threat to life and limb. Mr Emmerson told the court that Mrs Gun "does not dispute that she was responsible for leaking emails". He added: "The disclosure was made by her in a sincere attempt to prevent what she believed to be an unlawful war and to save the lives of British servicemen and women and Iraqi citizens."
In a statement read out after the hearing by her solicitor, James Welch, Mrs Gun said she would defend the charges against her on the basis that her actions were "necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be killed or maimed". She added: "I have only ever followed my conscience. I have been heartened by many messages of support and encouragement that I have received from Britons around the world."
Mrs Gun was arrested after the leak of a report that the US national security agency (NSA), America's equivalent of GCHQ, was conducting a "dirty tricks" operation. The operation was directed against UN security council members as part of Washington's battle to win votes in favour of a war against Iraq. The secret surveillance operation involved intercepting the home and office telephone calls and emails of delegates to the UN. The NSA made clear that the particular targets of what was described as an eavesdropping "surge" were the delegates from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria, Guinea and Pakistan, the six crucial "swing votes" on the security council. A memo sent by Frank Koza, a senior NSA official, said the information would be used "against" the key UN delegations. Yesterday, senior district judge Timothy Workman granted Mrs Gun unconditional bail to return to Bow Street on January 19 for committal to a full crown court trial.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/freedom/Story/0,2763,1095151,00.html
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