[Kabar-indonesia] Australian: Ex-spy charged for "classified" leaks to paper

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Australian
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Ex-spy charged for leaks to paper

Natalie O'Brien

FOR the first time in the history of Australia's domestic
spy agency ASIO, one of its officers is to be charged under
a section of its own act for allegedly leaking top-secret
intelligence information.

A 28-year-old man has been summonsed to appear in court to
face allegations that he released to The Australian
"nationally classified" intelligence reports warning the
Australian Government about the potential danger of bomb
attacks in Indonesia in the months before the 2002 Bali
bomb, which killed 88 Australians.

The unnamed man will face court next month on a charge of
unauthorised communication of information under Section
18(2) of the ASIO Act 1979.

A 25-year old man, who did not work for ASIO, has also been
charged with aiding and abetting the offence under the
Crimes Act.

The 28-year-old could face up to two years in jail if
convicted. It is understood he no longer works for the spy
agency.

The charges come more than two years after the Australian
Federal Police raided the offices of The Australian
searching for documents allegedly leaked from ASIO files.

Three AFP agents from the national investigations team
produced an eight-page search warrant and spent more than
two hours searching the newspaper's offices.

A spokesperson for the AFP said yesterday the investigation
had taken more than two years because it was a complex case
requiring liaison with several government agencies.

The AFP raid came after The Australian obtained the internal
ASIO minutes that showed US intelligence had warned the
Australian Government that there was a plot to bomb "sin
spots" in Indonesia.

The documents warned that US intelligence liaison with
Canberra told our authorities that in September 2002 Jemmah
Islamiah spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir had links with
Osama bin Laden.

JI was responsible for the Bali bombing and has been blamed
for a string of other attacks including the attack on the
Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and the Bali bombing
last year. However, two inquiries found that there was no
intelligence received by the Australian Government that
would have prevented the 2002 Bali attack.

In 1994, ASIO officer George Sadil was arrested and charged
under the Crimes Act 1914 with several espionage and
official secrets related offences. But the charges were
later withdrawn.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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