The repercussions of a lot of what happened are still being felt today.. "I never set out to be a whistleblower": Katharine Gun tells - Salon AMY GOODMAN: Were you actually in the car with him, waiting for him to go in for his check-in? Now, that doesnt mean we shouldnt try to hold them to account. Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she loved, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain. Her upbringing later led her to describe herself as a "third culture kid". "The Most Important Leak" -- How Katharine Gun Tried to Stop the Iraq Within half an hour, the case was dropped because the prosecution declined to offer evidence. [9] Gun spent a night in police custody, and eight months later was charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act. to your inbox each morning. Guns words will, in the coming weeks finally receive the much wider audience they deserve. Later, he stands by her as the many intricacies and dangers of his wifes profession and act of bravery surface. GAVIN HOOD: Yes, strong women. And we can say that, you know, thatso, he comes back, under all this pressure. is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. Her act of whistleblowing cost her a career as a translator at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), made her stand in a highly publicized trial for violating the Official Secrets Act, and reduced her chances of getting another job due to being an internationally recognized whistleblower. First day, what did you feel? You think everyone sees on your face that youre the leaker. TOP 9 what happened to katharine gun husband BEST and NEWEST And, with great respect, I think he did. Fox News' Kat Timpf Marries Cameron Friscia: See the Photos - People He knows he cant save the child. We still dont know who Frank Koza is, or hes still not given a public interview about about what went on. 'Official Secrets': The True Story Behind the Keira - Newsweek But yeah, I mean, I was hugely impressed. Shes confessed to breaching the Official Secrets Act. The movie tells the story of Katharine Gun (played by Keira Knightley), a translator with the U.K.'s GCHQ who, in 2003, leaked top secret documents to journalist Martin Bright (Matt Smith) that . Shes pregnant. And Mr. Ahmed is now the editorial director of the BBC, the revered BBC. Lets find out! So, of course, it was justyou know, he was kind of thinkinghe knew I worked for the intelligence services, but he didnt know what that was. All I want to do is feel the emotions that this young woman felt, and dont want to be fussed over. And it was great. And a fireman does that if he bashes your house down to get to you. AMY GOODMAN: Now, he goes in for a regular check-in. I was very exercised about what was happening. In 2003, she leaked top-secret information to The Observer, concerning a request by the United States for compromising intelligence on diplomats from member states of the 2003 Security Council.The diplomats were due to vote on a second United . But it was, yeah, a moment of great humility, actually. Enter Katharine Gun. I hope when shes ready for this story, she will [see the film]. They knew the difference between truth, lies and propaganda. After they charged me, thats when they tried to deport my husband. She was the real-life translator who photocopied . You know, youre not waiting for someone for hours in makeup. So how am I, with my tiny team of researchers, going to do anything like that? And so, its one of those moments where you realizeI mean, the chill went up my spine, like I thought, Ive got to get out of here. So, yes, that was not a good moment, yeah. I mean, MI6 couldnt do that. The Whistleblower Who Almost Stopped the Iraq Invasion You know, he couldntand it was the first time he had heard about it. Youre a bit, AMY GOODMAN: So, there is an uproar. Somebody says, Lord Goldsmith, the defense to your charge against Katharine Gun is they want your documents. Case dropped. KATHARINE GUN: No, nothing atwell, they said they were arresting me on suspicion of breaking the Official Secrets Act. ED VULLIAMY: Yes. "[5], Gun's regular job at GCHQ in Cheltenham was to translate Mandarin Chinese into English. If the war was illegal and she broke the law in order to expose an illegal war and potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives, I can use this defense of necessitythats usually used in more mundane, dare I say, contextsin this great political trial., And so he says, All right, now I need to know whether the war was legal or illegal. And he says, I need to find out what Lord Goldsmiths, the attorney-generals, legal position was in the run-up to that war. And you said in places like Chile. I mean, we certainly did meet in the courthouse. Thats our job. The love between Katharine and her husband, Yasar Gun, is undeniable, and the punishment they must to endure together is heart stopping. Details at membership.theguardian.com. Sometimes you break stories, and networks ring you and say they want to interview you, and then they drop you because of the agenda. AMY GOODMAN: Gavin, introduce us to Ben Emmerson. And I had to thank her forI mean, you know, in totally selfish terms, helping me break the biggest story of my life. AMY GOODMAN: What did you think about your own prime minister? Katharine Gun: Ten years on what happened to the woman who revealed And I had already not been able to eat for about 24 hours. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yes, we had a great, a dramatic moment at the Q&A session. We're looking at the real-life political thriller of a British intelligence specialist, Katharine Gun, who risked everything to blow the whistle on U.S. dirty tricks at the United Nations in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003. KATHARINE GUN: And yeah, becauseanyway, he was going in every week to basically prove that he was still resident or that they could pinpoint where he was. And through the lights, I couldnt quite see who the guy was. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Your defense becomes: It was necessary to break the law in order to achieve a higher purpose, which is the saving of human life. How the NSA Pushed Iraq Invasion - accuracy.org You dont know who the GCHQ person is. But, you know, these things happen. So, they immediatelywell, first of all, my manager said, What would you like to do? And I said, Well, pfff, what can I do? You know, we have to tell internal security. And yeah, it was, AMY GOODMAN: And what did you think, whenbefore you had seen Katharine and met her, what did you imagine she would be like, this young woman, 27-year-old woman of conscience, who. But you areis this part of the film true, where you have the authorities come in and say, Were questioning everyone, because someone here did this.. And nor do newspaper stories. There is a sense of, Did it really happen? Is that really me?. At first they dont name you, but then they do. She knows what it's like to have her face slapped, her bones broken and her nose bloodied by her former bully of a husband, an active Marine Colonel and a man who she claims is "above the law and literally gets away with murder." UPDATED with latest attendees, livestream link: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, will attend Saturday's . I mean, thisI dont want this to sound sanctimonious. He was Kurdishhe is Kurdish. I felt awful after I denied it. I havent watched the films about either of them, she says. Ten years ago, a young Mandarin specialist at GCHQ, the government's surveillance centre in Cheltenham, did something extraordinary. When do you first meet, you, the person who exposed this story, Martin Bright, and Katharine Gun? I ended up, bizarrely, teaching a couple of my former colleagues at GCHQ. But this is not the issue. Also with us, the director of Official Secrets, Gavin Hood. Woman who tried to stop a war. She continues to reside in Turkey and occasionally visits Britain. I mean, this has been going on for a number of years, and it always sort of ended up kind of petering out, so, GAVIN HOOD: Other people had approached you before. So I was in a dreadful state. Whistleblower Katherine Gun, right, is played by Keira Knightly in the movie Official Secrets. Film-makers generally like to glamorise newspaper offices, making them All the Presidents Men hothouses of high-level argument and intrigue. AMY GOODMAN: You only lasted what? In 2003, This U.K. Whistleblower Almost Stopped the Iraq - Truthout MARTIN BRIGHT: I mean, there are a series of questions of accountability here. Ben Emmerson is. The cop says, you know, Heres your ticket. Youre guilty of breaking the speed, but youre guilty of a crime. The film captures well the inspired and stubborn efforts of Bright (Matt Smith in the movie), and colleagues Ed Vulliamy (played with brio by Rhys Ifans) and Peter Beaumont (played by Matthew Goode), to stand the story up, based on the few details it betrayed, and to get it into the paper, despite the strong misgivings of the political desk. Ahead of a new film, Official Secrets, the GCHQ worker who tried to prevent the 2003 invasion of Iraq recalls those feverish days and their consequences Keira Knightley on playing whistleblower Katharine Gun: Iraq was the first time Id been politically engaged. The comedown after they dropped the case, and trying to recover from that, was quite stressful.. Katharine Gun, a shy and studious 28-year-old who spent her days listening in to obscure Chinese intercepts, decided to tell the world about a secret plan by the US government to spy on the United . And they attempt to deport your husband, who is a? whistleblower and former specialist for Britains Government Communications Headquarters. And so, we went down together to internal security, and they called Scotland Yard. The war did not end when George W. Bush said, Mission accomplished. It was only just beginning. So, I just lay that out, really. This is her story. Before I was charged, before my name came out, my biggest worry was that I would become a known person. But as we said last night, this is the purpose of Albert Camuss great story La Peste, when Dr. Rieux is given the child dying of plague. Copy may not be in its final form. So, Lord Goldsmith decides to prosecute Katharine Gun. And also, I didnt want to even risk having a criminal record. Presumably the events mark a before and after in her life. You know, we had it in October 2002. "[12], Two years after her trial, Gun wrote an article titled "Iran: Time to Leak",[22] which asked whistleblowers to make public any information about plans for a potential war against Iran. [12] A government spokesman said that the decision to drop the case had been made before the defence's demands had been submitted. [5] While at work at GCHQ on 31 January 2003, Gun read an email from Frank Koza, the chief of staff at the "regional targets" division of the American signals intelligence agency, the National Security Agency.[7]. Therefore, it is not surprising that Gun chose to move away from the center point of all the chaos once it died down. Following the incident, Gun struggled to find work that she loved, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain.
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