MANILA, Philippines - The U.S. government´s seizure of a copy of an 8-year-old unclassified FBI lab report mailed by an Associated Press reporter in the Philippines to a colleague in Washington was "a clear case of media repression," a Philippines media group said Tuesday.
The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines called the September incident "theft" and said it views the case as "symptomatic of a worsening crackdown on press freedom, a disturbing trend given the U.S. government´s claim to be the world´s chief proponent of freedom and democracy."
The U.S. Customs Service intercepted the package — sent via Federal Express from the AP´s Manila bureau to the news service´s Washington office — then opened it and turned the contents over to the FBI. There was no warrant, and AP was not notified of the interception.
FBI spokesman Doug Garrison said the document contained sensitive information that should not be made public. However, an AP executive said the package contained an unclassified 1995 FBI report that had been discussed in open court in two legal cases.
"The government had no legal right to seize the package," David Tomlin, assistant to the AP president, said last week.
The journalists´ group said in a statement that, "The same anti-terrorism campaign that purports to defend Americans and the rest of mankind from groups that threaten freedom and democracy has undermined one of the best defenses against tyranny — a free, open press and critical scrutiny of government processes."
The union is one of the two major journalist organizations in the Philippines, with branches nationwide. Its members include print and broadcast journalists.
A Philippine legislator also criticized the seizure, claiming it violated U.S. and Philippine laws.
"What the FBI did was ... utterly deplorable, and an insult to all freedom-loving Americans and non-Americans alike," Rep. Imee Marcos said Friday.
Customs has the legal right to examine packages sent from overseas at the point they arrive in the United States, in this case Indianapolis. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that the package, addressed to John Solomon was selected for "routine inspection" on Sept. 19.
Customs called the Federal Bureau of Investigation because the package contained an FBI document. Agents did not open an identical package from the Philippines to another AP office in the United States.
The package was one of several communications between Solomon and Jim Gomez, AP reporters researching stories on terrorism.
In May 2001, the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed Solomon´s home phone records concerning stories he wrote about an investigation of former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli.
