(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – Tony Geraghty, a British writer and journalist, and author of several books about Britain’s Special Air Services, or SAS for short, has been charged under the country’s Official Secrets Act. This charge concerns his latest book, “The Irish War”, published last year in hardback by HarperCollins and due to be published shortly […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – Tony Geraghty, a British writer and journalist, and
author of several books about Britain’s Special Air Services, or SAS for
short, has been charged under the country’s Official Secrets Act. This
charge concerns his latest book, “The Irish War”, published last year in
hardback by HarperCollins and due to be published shortly in the USA by John
Hopkins University Press.
Geraghty refused to show his manuscript in advance of publication to
Britain’s D-Notice Committee, a committee headed by a retired admiral, which
is meant to be a purely advisory body. It is part of a voluntary system
whereby authors can check in advance that their books do not give away
information which might be valuable to an enemy or, at least, offend against
the Official Secrets Act.
Last December, the Ministry of Defence police, a body quite independent of
the country’s civil police, raided Geraghty’s home and took away all his
files and computer equipment, which are still in their possession. This year
he was charged with an offence under the Official Secrets Act and in due
course this will come to court. A former member of the SAS has been charged
with him.
At issue seems to be a passage that deals with computerised methods of
surveillance in Northern Ireland. Strangely, though Geraghty was taken to
court, his book was left on sale. However, before the paperback version
could be published, the publishers received a visit from the Ministry of
Defence police too. A spokesman for the publishers has been quoted as saying
that the paperback version is under review in light of the criminal
proceedings.
As well as having a court case impending, Geraghty has lost the tools of his
trade – his computer and files – and now has little hope of his book being
published in paperback.
