Media groups criticise German state secrecy probe

BERLIN, Aug 3 (Reuters) Media outlets and a press freedom advocacy group today condemned an investigation by German state prosecutors into 17 journalists suspected of violating state secrecy laws.

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders joined a chorus of protests in Germany against the probe launched by Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats because intelligence agency documents had been published.

''We are worried that the work of a large number of journalists ... is being called into question,'' Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. ''These journalists should under no circumstances be treated like criminals.'' State prosecutors in Berlin defended the investigation.

''The journalists are suspected of being actively involved in aiding, abetting or being an accomplice in the betrayal of state secrets,'' said Berlin state prosecutor Karl-Heinz Dahlheimer.

But opposition parties along with some members of the Merkel's grand coalition government have also criticised the investigation into reporters from 10 newspapers and magazines, saying it violated press freedom guarantees.

The probe is directed at many top editors and reporters at leading German publications such as Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, Die Zeit and Der Spiegel.

It is also aimed at unknown politicians and staff workers suspected of leaking the documents to the media. The investigation into breach of secrecy laws is being conducted by state prosecutors in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich.

Siegfried Kauder, a parliamentary leader in Merkel's CDU, said he launched the probe after secret documents were published because the chancellery threatened that his committee overseeing the BND intelligence agency would otherwise be denied access. ''I had to do it,'' Kauder told Reuters.

He said he was tired of reading more detailed information from classified documents in media reports than what was made available to his committee, formed last year to investigate whether the BND violated human rights while fighting terror.

He said that a majority on the intelligence committee had voted for the probe and parliament president Norbert Lammert approved it.

The prosecutors began their investigation in June.

Reuters RS DB2316