????鑒于最近發生的“棱鏡”泄密丑聞，包括朱利安?阿桑奇和丹尼爾?艾爾斯伯格在內的一些知名檢舉人上周和記者召開了一次電話會議，表達了對新聞自由現狀的擔憂。

????因為20世紀70年代向媒體披露五角大樓的絕密文件，艾爾斯伯格成為第一個因《反間諜法》而受到起訴的人。他說：“隨著奧巴馬當局起訴維基解密（WikiLeaks）、朱利安?阿桑奇、布拉德利?曼寧（美國陸軍士兵，涉嫌向維基解密提供了數十萬份機密文件——譯注）、愛德華?斯諾登、以及發表相關內容的媒體，他們實際上就是在宣告：調查性報道是非法的。”

????艾爾斯伯格認為，跟前任相比，奧巴馬是有史以來向公眾隱匿信息最積極的總統。他說：“奧巴馬以《反間諜法》名義起訴的人是歷任總統起訴人數的兩倍。”至今已有六人遭到起訴。艾爾斯伯格相信，阿桑奇將是第七人，而愛德華?斯諾登將是第八人。

????維基解密創始人阿桑奇竭盡全力為自己的員工辯護，稱當局必須立刻停止 “不道德的”調查。美國政府欲以間諜罪及與安全官員共謀罪起訴阿桑奇。這些官員中就有布拉德利?曼寧，他目前正因向維基解密披露秘密文件而受審。周三正好是他在倫敦厄瓜多爾大使館被囚禁一周年的日子。

????阿桑奇認為，政府所謂的“共謀論”荒誕可笑，作為記者兼出版商，他只是在完成自己的本職工作而已。“難道說美國的記者需要一個和他們工作相關的避難所嗎？”他還抨擊了他所謂政府對自己希望公眾了解的信息的“控制”。

????至于斯諾登，這個被《衛報》（Guardian）稱之為“美國政治史上最重大泄密事件”的責任人，艾爾斯伯格和阿桑奇都對他表示支持。阿桑奇說：“我們正與斯諾登的法律團隊接觸，同時設法讓他在冰島獲得政治庇護。”而關于斯諾登從香港飛往冰島的航班的安全性問題，聽起來聲調低沉、疲憊不堪的阿桑奇只是說：“我們正在了解所有相關事項”。

????而艾爾斯伯格稱，包括他本人、曼寧和斯諾登在內的所有檢舉人都有一個基本的共同點。“我們都發現當局總想掩蓋自己違反憲法、毫無人道和輕率大意的行為，而我們每個人都是在單槍匹馬地和當局展開較量。”艾爾斯伯格還說，他將這個群體的每個人都視同手足。

????但是舉報什么時候會越過紅線、妨害國家安全呢？艾爾斯伯格堅信，絕大多情況下，公眾知情權的需求都要比正當的保密要求更重要。他說：“國家安全已經變成了一種大眾宗教，任何對它的質疑都成了褻瀆神明的行為。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????Famous whistleblowers and journalists, including Julian Assange and Daniel Ellsberg, held a conference call on Wednesday, to express concern about the freedom of press, in the light of the latest whistleblowing scandal.

????"With the Obama administration's prosecution of WikiLeaks, [Julian] Assange, [Bradley] Manning and [Edward] Snowden and also their cases against publishers of the content, they are criminalizing the process of investigative journalism," said Ellsberg, the first person prosecuted under the Espionage Act, for revealing top-secret Pentagon papers in the 1970s.

????Calling the President the most active in concealing information from the public compared to predecessors, Ellsberg said, "Obama has prosecuted twice as many people, under the Espionage Act, as all the earlier Presidents put together." Six people have been prosecuted under the act so far; Ellsberg believes Assange could be number seven and Edward Snowden number eight.

????For his part, Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, vehemently defended his staff, saying the administration must immediately stop their "immoral" investigation against them. The U.S. wants to prosecute Assange for espionage and for conspiring with security officials, including Bradley Manning -- on trial now for releasing secret documents to WikiLeaks. Wednesday marked a year in confinement at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for him.

????Assange holds the Government's "conspiracy theory" is preposterous, claiming that he was only doing his job as a journalist and content publisher. "Is the United States a country where journalists need asylum, in relation to their work?" He also attacked what he calls the administration's "control" of what it wants the public to know.

????As for Snowden, the man responsible for what the Guardian calls "the most significant leak in U.S. political history," Ellsberg and Assange support him. "We are in touch with Snowden's legal team and are working to get him asylum in Iceland," says Assange. On the safety of Snowden's flight, from Hong Kong to Iceland, the tired and downbeat sounding Assange only offered "we are looking into all issues."

????Ellsberg says there is a basic similarity between all the whistleblowers, including himself, Manning and Snowden. "We saw the administration covering up unconstitutional, inhumane, and reckless behavior, and each one of us took them [the administration] on." Ellsberg says he feels great affinity for each one of them.

????But when does whistleblowing cross the line and hamper national security? Ellsberg believes that in most cases the need for public information outweighs any valid requirement for secrecy. "National security has become public religion and any questioning of it, sacrilegious," he says.