court
16 May 2007
Recent media reports on the Constitutional Court ruling to uphold the
request of the Minister for Intelligence and the President to restrict public
access to classified information are distorted and inaccurate. The documents in
question in total of 100 pages out of a total record of over 1000 pages contain
classified information about the National Intelligence Agency's (NIA)
intelligence operations and names of NIA members and sources. The documents
were included in an in camera affidavit lodged by Mr Billy Masetlha in the
Pretoria High Court and have no bearing on the substance of Masetlha's
Constitutional Court appeal and have never been part of the public record.
Furthermore, the contents of the in camera affidavit have not been made
public at any stage during the court proceedings and remain classified and
subject to the Protection of Information Act. It is important to note further
that the decision by Chief Justice to remove the entire record of the Masetlha
case both classified and unclassified documents from the public registry in the
Constitutional Court was at the instance of the judges themselves. At no stage
did the minister object to the Heads of Argument or the open affidavits of any
party being available to the media.
The minister recognises the right of the media to inform the public of
matters in the national interest. The minister however, has an equally
important responsibility in terms of the law to ensure that access to
information does not compromise legitimate intelligence operations or endanger
the lives of our members and sources.
Enquiries:
Lorna Daniels
Cell: 082 418 3389
E-mail: lornad@mweb.co.za
Issued by: National Intelligence Agency
16 May 2007
Source: SAPA
