Name: The Espionage Act Talk - convicting whistle-blowers as spies?
Start: 2017-04-04T18:45:00+01:00
End: 2017-04-04T20:30:00+01:00
Location: Friends Meeting House

ORG Brighton is hosting an evening of talks all about the proposed changes to the Espionage Act.

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What has the Law Commission proposed?

The changes to the Espionage, or Official Secrets, Act proposed by the Law Commission dramatically increase penalties for whistleblowers and journalists that expose wrong doing and law breaking within government.

Not only this but those accused wouldn't be able to argue as their defence that their actions were in the public interest.

Read more about the proposals on ORG's website (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/espionage-act/14-years-in-prison-for-journalists-sign-the-petition-1) and from the Law Commission (http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/official-secrets-acts-reviewed-to-meet-the-challenges-of-the-21st-century/) directly.

Who's speaking?

Javier Ruiz Diaz (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff) - ORG's Policy Director

Javier navigates ORG’s complex policy landscape, which includes diverse areas such as intellectual property and copyright, surveillance, privacy and data protection, open source innovation, transparency and access to information.

Dr Paul Lashmar (https://paullashmar.com/about/) - Senior Lecturer and Journalism Lead at University of Sussex

Paul was awarded ‘Reporter of The Year’ (with David Leigh) at the British Press Awards. In his career he has written about terrorism, intelligence, organised crime, offshore crime, business fraud and the Cold War and I've broken many major domestic and international stories. Paul joined the University of Sussex in 2015 as a Senior Lecturer and Journalism Lead.

In a recent interview on the proposed changes to the Espionage Act Paul said “only journalists have a consistent record for revealing intelligence agency malpractice”.

Tristram Hicks - Brighton & Hove Green Party Executive Member

Tristram will be explaining the Green Parties position on these proposals.

How can I make a difference?

The Law Commission is currently holding an open public consultation (http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/protection-of-official-data/#protection-of-official-data) on the proposals. The consultation will run until 3rd May so make sure to lobby your MP (https://www.writetothem.com/) or write to the law Commission directly: pod@lawcommission.gsi.gov.uk

Join ORGs campaign and sign our petition. (https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/espionage-act/14-years-in-prison-for-journalists-sign-the-petition)

Damian Lee

ORG Brighton

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The Espionage Act Talk - convicting whistle-blowers as spies?

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The Espionage Act Talk - convicting whistle-blowers as spies?

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