Why We Need a National Shield Law: US Army Subpoenaes Civilian Journalist

Journalist Sarah Olson


The Watada Family

Published on Wednesday, January 17, 2006 by The Progressive

Journalist on Hot Seat in Court-Martial Case
by Matthew Rothschild

Sarah Olson was on a big story, and now she has become a part of it.

The freelance journalist was one of the first reporters to cover the story of Lt. Ehren Watada, who is facing a court martial for publicly refusing to deploy to Iraq. Watada has denounced the war as “illegal and unjust.”
“Being forced to choose between my personal liberty and my integrity is not a choice I should be forced to make,” says Sarah Olson in the case of Lt. Ehren Watada, who refuses to deploy to Iraq.

Now the army has subpoenaed Olson and another reporter to testify at Watada’s trial.

Olson finds herself in a bind.

“Being forced to choose between my personal liberty and my integrity is not a choice I should be forced to make,” she says. “If I don’t cooperate, I will be facing a felony contempt of court charge with a penalty of up to six months in prison and/or up to a fine of $500.”

The other reporter is Gregg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. When I called him to discuss the case, he said, “I don’t have any comment.”

Groups that protect journalists and writers have expressed their dismay at the Pentagon’s tactic.

“If Olson and Kakesako respond to these subpoenas by testifying, they will essentially be participating in the prosecution of their source,” wrote Hannah Pakula and Larry Siems of the PEN American Center in a January 5 letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “Such a role compromises their objectivity and can have chilling effects on the press.”

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, agrees.

“It’s particularly frustrating and infuriating that they’re putting journalists in this situation when it’s clearly unnecessary,” Dalglish says, noting that Watada has not denied making the statements that Olson and Kakesako reported.

Olson even broadcast a radio interview with Watada, which is still available on the Internet, she adds, so the military prosecutors “can go to the National Radio Project’s website and verify his words themselves.”

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