OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:38 AM PT — Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Australian police recently raided the home of a journalist after she published a story, which allegedly leaked plans about government spying. News Corp condemned Tuesday’s raid against their journalist, Annika Smethurst, as “a dangerous act of intimidation.”
According to the search warrant, Smethurst is accused of “publishing information classified as an official secret.” Police are claiming she put national security at risk when she revealed details about a plan to allow the government to collect private data about Australian citizens without a warrant.
Australian authorities search through items in Annika Smethurst’s kitchen. (Photo/ Supplied Source/News Corp Australia)
A second operation was also conducted at the Sydney offices of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over its coverage of the war in Afghanistan.
“To have a warrant executed on the headquarters of the national public broadcaster in this way, I can’t state it enough, is an unwelcome development, it is really serious and we take it very, very seriously. And, you know, it feels uncomfortable because, and this is a personal comment, it’s not the Australia I know, for example. I’ve been a reporter in this country for a long, long time and it’s not what we expect.”
— Craig McMurtrie, editorial director – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
There were no arrests made in connection to Tuesday’s raids.
Statement from the committee of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery on the police raid on @annikasmethurst today: pic.twitter.com/Oo6vHTfDzx
— David Crowe (@CroweDM) June 4, 2019
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