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Media must act within the confines of the law

`While the ideal of press freedom should be respected by the government, members of the news media must also respect and treasure their profession's integrity.'

In terms of judicial human rights, the main concern of human-rights activists is whether law enforcement indeed follows due process, so as to avoid violating the legal rights of defendants and crime suspects. It does not mean defendants and crime suspects are immune from criminal prosecution and punishment because of the rights they enjoy.

Article 23 of the ROC Constitution provides that the law may restrict citizens' freedoms out of the need to uphold social order or facilitate public interests. For this reason, Article 109 of the Criminal Code states that criminal sanctions shall be imposed against anyone who discloses national defense secrets.

Such conduct is also considered a type of "offense against the external security of the state (外患罪)." The legislative intent of Article 109 is that, since such conduct violates national law and interests, violators must be legally prosecuted and punished. Otherwise, social order may be in danger of destruction, and public welfare harmed.

In advanced democratic societies, the media is referred to as the "fourth branch" with power on par with those of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government. These four powers ought to check and balance each other, rather than allow any one power to overpower the others.

In other words, while the ideal of press freedom should be respected by the government, members of the news media must also respect and treasure their profession's integrity and strictly abide by their profession's ethics. They must exercise self discipline and fulfill their social responsibilities so as to win approval of the readers. Otherwise, the abuse of press freedom will only trample the professional dignity of the news media. If their conduct exceeds the permissible legal bounds, and goes as far as violating national, social or individual legal interests, criminal prosecution must still be pursued in order to uphold the universality of law and justice.

There is room for debate on whether the government prosecution and investigative units' recent raid of news media was indeed in compliance with criminal litigation procedure law. However, if any members of the media are suspected of violating criminal law, in view of the principle of "equal protection of the law," they must all accept the legal consequences of their actions. What right do members of the media have to claim immunity from the law?

In sum, the sanctity of press freedom exists only within the confines of law and justice. On the other hand, the nation's law enforcement must comply with the legally-mandated due process in all cases, not just in cases where media is involved. Whether press freedom is being abused or whether the powers of law-enforcement are being properly exercised are two issues that deserve the scrutiny of the entire nation. This is what human rights is all about.

Hsu Wen-pin is the chairman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights.
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