Civil servant guilty of memo leak (Bush wanted to bomb Al Jazeera)

Source: BBC

A civil servant has been found guilty of leaking a secret memo about talks between George Bush and Tony Blair.

David Keogh, 50, from Northampton, had denied offences under the Official Secrets Act.

The "extremely sensitive" document recorded Oval Office talks between Mr Bush and Mr Blair about Iraq in 2004.

The Old Bailey jury is considering verdicts in relation to a second count against Keogh and a single charge against MP's researcher Leo O'Connor.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/6637735.stm

---

The original story (which the BBC annoyingly won't refer to, although it's common knowledge): http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16397937&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=exclusive--bush-plot-to-bomb-his-arab-ally-name_page.html

Britons found guilty of breaching Official Secrets Law

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - A civil servant and a political aide were convicted of breaching Britain's Official Secrets Act on Wednesday for leaking a classified memo of a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush.

David Keogh, a code specialist at a top security government communications centre, was found guilty of making a copy of the memo of talks held in the White House in April 2004 and handing it to Leo O'Connor, a political researcher.

Both Keogh, 50, and O'Connor, 44, had pleaded not guilty to the charges of making a "damaging disclosure". They are due to be sentenced on Thursday.

Key parts of the three-week trial were held behind closed doors. The judge ruled that the contents of the memo could not be revealed, referred to or reported in any way other than as they were discussed in open court.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0936033.htm

:kick:

Source: Bloomberg

Two Britons Convicted of Leaking Bush, Blair Memo on Iraq War

By Megan Murphy

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Two British civil servants were convicted of leaking a secret memo about a 2004 meeting between U.S. President George Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair about the war in Iraq. David Keogh, 50, a former Cabinet communications officer, and Leo O'Connor, a political researcher, were found guilty today of breaching Britain's Official Secrets Act by a London jury after 10 hours of deliberations.

- snip -

Both Keogh and O'Connor denied the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Rex Tedd QC, Keogh's lawyer, last week said that his client intercepted the memo because he felt its contents were ``utterly wrong'' and would cause embarrassment for Bush. The men intended to put the document in the hands of John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Tedd said. Instead, O'Connor slipped the document into the papers of his boss, former Labour Member of Parliament Anthony Clarke, who alerted authorities. Both men will be sentenced today or tomorrow.

- snip -

Large segments of the three-week trial were conducted in private, to preserve the confidentiality of the contents of the memo. Prosecutors said it records key details from an April 16, 2004, meeting between Bush, Blair and other senior officials, just two months before coalition forces relinquished governing authority in Iraq.

- snip -

Both men claim that its disclosure wouldn't have increased the risks for coalition troops, who were already facing backlash in Iraq. The Abu Ghraib prison scandal, involving the abuse of detainees by U.S. military police at a Baghdad correctional facility, also first broke into the news in April 2004.

MORE

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=agtg0HWwQxFQ&refer=uk

I used to think that, at least in America, people had principles about freedom of the press, unlike the United Kingdom. Maybe once upon a time it was even true.

What ever his nickname is.... when Blair's replacement is in, the conviction of these 'whistle blowers' could be overturned, dismissed, erased... you know what I mean.

Source: Reuters

Secrets-leaker handed 6-month prison term

Reuters - 40 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - A civil servant was jailed for six months on Thursday for
breaching the Official Secrets Act by leaking a memo of a top-secret meeting
between Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush.

David Keogh, 50, a government communications specialist, was found guilty on
two counts of making a "damaging disclosure" by revealing the memo, which
recorded details of a private meeting on Iraq at the White House in April 2004.

He was also ordered to pay 5,000 pounds in costs to the prosecution.

Co-defendant Leo O'Connor, 44, a political researcher to whom Keogh passed
the four-page memo marked secret and confidential, was sentenced to three
months in jail.

-snip-

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070510/tpl-uk-britain-trial-secrets-43a8d4f.html