German prosecutors probe website for treason over spy story

German authorities on Thursday opened an investigation into the website’s bloggers, Markus Beckedahl and Andre Meister, as well as an unidentified third party, accusing them of treason, according to news reports.

Following the public and media backlash, German Federal Prosecutor General Harald Range said on Friday that he had decided to halt investigations, adding that his office would not initiate criminal prosecution, taking into account Germany’s legacy of press freedom.

As many have cited, the articles published at Netzpolitik were based on leaked documents of government snooping.

Netzpolitik is believed to have quoted from an intelligence report categorized as “classified document – confidential” that proposed a new unit to monitor the Internet, particularly social networks.

“From the very beginning, the charges against our alleged source(s) were politically motivated and targeted to crush the necessary public debate about Internet surveillance post-Snowden”, wrote Netzpolitik’s Anna Biselli in a statement on the site.

Meister and Beckedahl were informed on July 24 that they were suspects in an investigation of two articles published on the news site that included “classified” and “confidential” documents.

Another website republished the contentious articles and challenged the state to investigate it too, while a Green Party lawmaker said he had donated money to Netzpolitik and tweeted an image of its bank details so others could follow suit. German journalists union DJV condemned the judicial process as “an inadmissible attempt to muzzle two critical colleagues”.

The investigation has been widely criticised by digital rights activists and organisations, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation referring to it as “a matter of deep public concern” and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald calling the news “huge”. Probably the most high-profile case occurred in 1962, when an investigation towards the weekly journal Der Spiegel prompted road demonstrations and the resignation of 5 Cupboard members in protest. A court later ruled in its favour and the defence minister stepped down, in what was seen as a victory for democracy and cemented its reputation for investigative journalism. Meanwhile, German lawyers called for the abolition of the offence “journalistic treason”.