Top court rewards Romanian journalist for publishing leaked military files
By Emil Weber
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a judgement on June 26thprotecting an investigative journalist’s right to access, distribute and discuss leaked military files related to the activities of a Romanian unit in Afghanistan.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg (photo: Nicoleon, Cour européenne des droits de l'homme, CC BY-SA 4.0)
The leak concerned 2002-2003 military operations by the unit, deployed as part of the NATO contingent.
According to the Romanian authorities, journalist Marian Gîrleanu had downloaded the files into his computer in 2005, had verified its authenticity and had distributed it to other journalists.
The…