Keeping secrets

Tony Bunyan of Statewatch was recently in Malta to discuss the importance of freedom of information in Europe, from Indymedia:

Malta is one of the only countries in the EU where there is yet no Fredom of Information Act Tony Bunyan who is head of State Watch has claimed that this Act has been suppressed and avoided due to the excuse of the war on terror. He claimed that the 'war on terror' has justified the suppression of civil liberties which have ben gained through long struggles especially, the right of the citizens to have any information and any document which the government possesses.

Karl Schembri highlited several cases were the Maltese government has kept secrets and did not allow the public to gain the information even on heavy demand. Some examples are the recent CIA flights which were only exposed by the American Embassy and not by the Government, the AFM illegal explosives site in Gozo and the ban of journalists in detention centres. Mr Schembri said that such an act would give guidelines to ministries on how to handle and assimilate documents and information to the public and thus policy would be more serious and effecient...