Looming indictment of reporter could challenge press freedom inisrael - Herbal Slimming Pills

Dozens of Israeli journalists demonstrated Sunday against theplanned indictment outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem.Officials say formal charges are expected within weeks. "The charge sheet is directed against all journalists," Haaretzcommentator Gideon Levy wrote in his column Sunday. "The nextjournalist who receives information about a scandal in the Israelimilitary will tell his source, 'leave me alone. I don't want to getinto trouble. I don't want to be another Blau.'" Israeli news media are famously unruly, exposing alleged governmentmalfeasance involving everyone from prime ministers to lowly cityworkers on a regular basis.

It was unclear if this case wouldactually tone down the sometimes over-zealous and super-competitivemedia outlets. Blau could face up to seven years in prison for possessingsensitive military documents without proper authorizations, despitereturning the material to the army. Legal experts predict it is highly unlikely Blau will ever end upbehind bars, saying the state will probably seek a plea bargaininstead. Blau obtained more than 2,000 military documents, includingoperational plans and lists of potential targets, from a formersoldier who copied them from army computers between 2005 and 2007.Some 700 were classified. He published some of the information in investigative articles,including one in 2007 alleging that the army had planned thekilling of wanted Palestinian militants in violation of a courtorder to arrest them alive if possible.

As required under Israeli law, Blau submitted all of his stories toIsrael's military censor before they were published. The censorapproved the articles, meaning they contained no information thatwas deemed dangerous to state security. Nonetheless, prosecutors have come down hard on both Blau and AnatKamm, the soldier who leaked the material to him. Kamm wassentenced last year to 4 years in prison on espionage charges. After Kamm's 2009 arrest, Haaretz kept Blau abroad for roughly ayear to avoid prosecution.

He returned to Israel in late 2010 afterpromising prosecutors to return documents, which he did. Last week, the Justice Ministry said Blau would be charged withunauthorized possession of state secrets because "the potential fordamage in the unprotected possession of the documents wasenormous." It concluded the gravity of his conduct outweighed thepublic's right to know. In his formal response to the impending charges, Blau said,"Everything I did, I did as part of my mission as a journalist." Hedeclined an interview request from the AP. Former Supreme Court Justice Dalia Dorner, now president of theIsrael Press Council, said she regretted the government's decisionto indict, saying Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein had thediscretion not to prosecute.

Israel, whose leaders proudly call the country the Middle East'sonly democracy, is not alone in targeting a journalist who revealeddamaging secrets. Four decades ago, the U.S. grappled with the leak of the PentagonPapers, documents packed with damaging revelations about America'sconduct of the Vietnam War, to U.S. media.

In a landmark case seenas a victory for press freedom, President Richard Nixonunsuccessfully tried to suppress publication and crush thoseresponsible for the leak. More recently, several countries have been embarrassed by documentsobtained by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The United States has charged an army private with aiding theenemy, a crime that can carry a sentence of life in prison, forallegedly sending hundreds of thousands of classified diplomaticcables and war logs downloaded from government computers toWikiLeaks. News organizations that wrote stories based on WikiLeaks materialhave not been targeted. Britain's Official Secrets Act bars civil servants from leakingsecrets, and several have been charged in recent years.

Butprosecutions of journalists who receive leaked information are rarein that country. Recently, Guardian journalist Amelia Hill wasquestioned over stories about a high-profile phone hacking scandal,but prosecutors decided she would not be charged. In 2005, Germany authorities raided the offices of a magazine thatobtained a classified intelligence report about a top al-Qaidafigure. The country's top constitutional court ruled theinvestigation and raid violated freedom of the press.

While Sweden bars the publication of classified information thatcould harm national security, prosecution is rare. In 1973, twoSwedish journalists were convicted of espionage and sentenced toabout one year each in prison for articles revealing the existenceof a secret Swedish intelligence agency. In Israel, critics of the government say the planned chargesagainst Blau are part of a broader effort to muzzle detractors. Parliament has also given preliminary approval to a bill that wouldmake it much easier for journalists to be sued and significantlyincreases the fines reporters can be ordered to pay, without proofof damages.

____ AP reporters Jill Lawless in London, Juergen Baetz in Berlin andKarl Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this report.

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