BLACK HELICOPTERS CIRCLING :

U.N. Court Orders Reporter To Testify : Article Quoted Serb Accused of Genocide (Howard Kurtz, June 11, 2002, Washington Post)

There is no issue involving confidential sources. [Jonathan C. ] Randal argued instead, according to the ruling, that "journalists' independence would be undermined and journalists would have fewer opportunities to conduct interviews with officials with superior authority," and that "journalists would as a collective profession be put at risk of greater harm and danger."

Randal, now living in Paris, maintained that reporters should enjoy a qualified privilege against testifying in such tribunals, and that his account was of little importance in the trial.

But the prosecution contended that Randal's article "goes directly to the heart of the case against Brdjanin" and that the retired reporter is in "no danger."

In U.S. court cases, such disputes are sometimes resolved with a statement by the journalist that his article was accurate, which allows it to be introduced as evidence.

In this case, though, Randal's interview was conducted through a journalistic interpreter, identified only as "X." Brdjanin's defense team contends that Randal must be cross-examined.

There doesn't appear to be any First Amendment issue here--it's much bigger than that--it's a matter of sovereignty. At the point where we allow folks to start being hauled into these courts for marginal reasons like this testimony, then how we do we justify not letting them try cases against Americans--like Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, all of whom have been mentioned by Europeans as deserving of war crimes trials? Let's just nip it in the bud now and tell them : "no". Posted by Orrin Judd at June 14, 2002 2:45 PM