British Appellate Court Lifts Gag Order In Official Secrets Act Trial

An appellate court has lifted a gag order, imposed by a lower court, which prevented the British press from printing information about a meeting between then Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush on April 16, 2004, during which President Bush apparently floated a suggestion about bombing the television station al-Jazeera as well as other issues concerning the Iraq war. Two men, David Keogh and Leo O’Connor, are on trial under the Official Secrets Act for their involvement in leaking the contents of the memo that contained that information to the media. Much of the information had already been made public; nevertheless, the trial judge imposed the gag order. However, a number of influential media challenged it, and this week the appellate court ruled that the order was too broad. However, the court did caution the press concerning the manner in which it characterized the defendants’ allegations. Read more here in a Media Guardian story.