O'Connor - Keogh official secrets trial

Civil servant David Keogh and parliamentary researcher Leo O'Connor, both of Northampton, England, were charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act in the United Kingdom.

They appeared on November 29, 2005 in the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London. They were remanded on bail, to return to the court on January 10 for a committal hearing.

The charges against the pair relate to the alleged leak of a document containing what purports to be a discussion between Tony Blair and George W. Bush at one point. It is alleged this document shows that Blair had to dissuade Bush from bombing Al Jazeera in Qatar.

On January 10, 2006, their defence lawyer was shown the secret Al Jazeera bombing memo and declared it posed no threat to national security. He vowed to have it made public by the court. The case would return to court on January 24. [cite web
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1683576,00.html
title=Lawyer denies leak of al-Jazeera bomb plot harmed security
last=Norton-Taylor
first=Richard Norton-Taylor
publisher=Guardian
date=January 11, 2006
accessdate=2007-08-01] [cite web
url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/11/MNGKHGLEFB1.DTL
title=Alleged leakers appear in British court, Memo suggests Blair persuaded Bush not to bomb Al-Jazeera
last=Cowell
first=Alan
publisher=New York Times
date=January 11, 2006
accessdate=2007-08-01]

The trial was due to begin on October 9, 2006. However, on that date the judge ruled the hearing should be in secret. It was then reported that the trial itself would begin on April 18, 2007. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6033955.stm
title=Secrets case hearing in private
last=
first=
publisher=BBC News
date=October 9, 2006
accessdate=2007-08-01] [cite web
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1921328,00.html
title=For their eyes only, New evidence clears up whether Bush sought to bomb al-Jazeera. But we are not allowed to hear it
last=Norton-Taylor
first=Richard
publisher=Guardian
date=October 13, 2006
accessdate=2007-08-01]

In arguing for the trial to remain secret, the government claimed the memo "could have a serious impact upon the international relations" of the UK. and that the "risk is of such magnitude to outweigh the interest of open public justice."

The trial began on April 18, 2007 in the Old Bailey court. Elaborate procedures were imposed to ensure secrecy, including asking barristers to remove their wigs when restricted information was being discussed. [cite web
url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1695513.ece
title=‘Secrets leak’ civil servant opposed Iraq war
last=Evans
first=Michael
publisher=The Times
date=April 24, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-01] Few details have been published in the press.

On May 10, 2007, Keogh was found guilty on two counts of making a "damaging disclosure" by revealing the memo and was sentenced to 6 months in jail. He was also ordered to pay £5000 in costs to the to the prosecution. O'Connor was sentenced to 3 months in jail. [cite web
url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/email/idUKL1060345320070510
title=Secrets-leaker handed prison term
last=
first=
publisher=Reuters
date=May 10, 2007
accessdate=2007-08-01]

A second memo

Early reports suggested that the pair were actually being tried for leaking a different memo [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4447100.stm
title=Two charged 'over Iraq memo leak'
last=
first=
publisher=BBC News
date=November 17, 2005
accessdate=2007-08-01] , called "Iraq: The Medium Term", which was published by The Times in 2004 [cite web
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article430586.ece
title=British fears on US tactics are leaked
last=Cracknell
first=David
publisher=The Times
date=May 23, 2004
accessdate=2007-08-01] . The popular blog "BlairWatch" has suggested that this is the case and that the Al Jazeera bombing memo is actually unconnected with the case [cite web
url=http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/612
title=Confirmed: There are Two Memos
last=
first=
publisher=BlairWatch
date=November 28, 2005
accessdate=2007-08-01] [cite web
url=http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/625
title=The Two Memos - A Beginners Guide
last=
first=
publisher=BlairWatch
date=December 2, 2005
accessdate=2007-08-01] . This theory has not been corroborated by any main stream media source, and in fact, UK reporting bans limit discussion of the case in print.

ee also

* Al Jazeera bombing memo

References

External links

*cite news|url=http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/70566|title=Two charged over leak of Blair-Bush conversation on conflict|publisher=The Independent|date=18 November 2005
*cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1648590,00.html|title=Legal gag on Bush-Blair war row|publisher=The Guardian|date=November 23, 2005
*cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1653656,00.html|title=Researcher in Blair-Bush memo row 'shocked' at Official Secrets charge|publisher=The Guardian|date=November 30, 2005
*cite news|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,12123,1683579,00.html|title=Lawyer denies leak of al-Jazeera bomb plot harmed security|publisher=The Guardian|date=January 11, 2006
*cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2065290,00.html|title=Memo leak would have upset allies, court told|publisher=The Guardian|date=April 25, 2007|accessdate=2007-04-25