A full trial might have exposed any such documents to public scrutiny, as the defence was expected to argue that trying to stop an unlawful war of aggression outweighed Gun's obligations under the Official Secrets Act. So, from a dramatic point of view, you have someone whos just going to their job every day, as most of us do, happens to be a spy working for GCHQ, but could have been a person working for an accounting firm or Enron or Boeing or any other organization, who sees something that is simply wrong, sees, you know, and says, GAVIN HOOD: and says, Im going to speak up.. Guns words will, in the coming weeks finally receive the much wider audience they deserve. Its all so resonant. So, no, I mean, I didnt want to say I was guilty when I didnt feel guilty. And, with great respect, I think he did. And that if the perpetrators in these situations get away scot-free, that has a knock-on effect. KATHARINE GUN: Well, hes Turkish, from a Kurdish background, yeah. In a BBC interview with Jeremy Paxman, she said that she had not raised the matter with staff counsellors as she "honestly didn't think that would have had any practical effect". Theyre going to send him back to Turkey. As of 2020[update] Gun lives in Turkey and Britain. ED VULLIAMY: At the time, yes, the editor and the political. I mean, I literallyI couldnt eat. We speak with a British whistleblower whose attempts to expose lies about the Iraq invasion was called the most important and courageous leak in history by acclaimed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. So I was bailed until November, when they charged me. I wanted to go to the making of the filmKeira Knightley, did you meet with her?and also ask you, Gavin, about Keira taking on this role. Who is her husband? Yasur is a Turkish Kurd who is married to 47-year-old Katharine. You know, we had it in October 2002. The online Drudge Report used the fact that the reproduced NSA memo used English spelling to cast doubt on its veracity. So, lots of leads there. And I was tasked to set up a website to look into this. to your inbox each morning. oceanside high school football schedule. Thats our job. He would have had to have the authority of Lord Goldsmith to prosecute. Yasur is a Turkish Kurd who is married to 47-year-old Katharine. Katharine, 83, is an Oscar-nominated actress who appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, including The Graduate and The Stepford Wives. Posted on July 3, 2022 by . Gun has spoken at the 51Fest and conferences arranged by organizations such as the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). Few are aware that her husband had also been thrown into troubled waters when Gun blew the lid off the alleged spy efforts in 2003. We didnt talk about politics much. AMY GOODMAN: Youre watching that on television. Also with us, the director of Official Secrets, Gavin Hood. You didnt know what would happen with this memo you leaked to someone, who gave it to someone, but you knew you felt it wasI mean, you werent part of a movement. AMY GOODMAN: They said you could have pled. She was arrested and charged with breach of the Official Secrets Act. We still dont know who within the American administration ordered the operation. Gun leaked the memo to the press in 2003, setting off a chain of events that jeopardized her freedom and safety, but also opened the door to putting the entire legality of the Iraq invasion on trial. Movies. She is married to Yasar Gun. When Brights story originally landed there were concentrated efforts to rubbish it in the gung-ho parts of the media. Her act of whistleblowing cost her a career as a translator at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), made her stand in a highly publicized trial for violating the Official Secrets Act, and reduced her chances of getting another job due to being an internationally recognized whistleblower. But as it happened, I wasnt called up on Monday. But yeah, I mean, I was hugely impressed. I mean, my initial encounter with him at the Faith Foundation was extremely concerning, in fact, because he said that what he wanted me to do was develop a heat map, you know, an interactive map of all the madrassas, you know, Islamic schools, around the world, with my tiny team of two or three interns, showingand he looked me in the eye, and he said, I want you to be ableI want people who are looking on our website to be able to see how radical those madrassas are, by color coding.. Economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram on World Bank, Climate Emergency, Global Debt Crisis & More, We Want a Better Future: Meet an Asylum Seeker Evicted from, Jeremy Scahill on Mistreatment of Whistleblowers & Uneven Enforcement of Laws over Classified Papers, Part 1: In 2003, This U.K. Whistleblower Almost Stopped the Iraq Invasion. Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood) (born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). They live on a smallholding, renting a house, in rural Turkey. Otherwise we are living in dictatorships. In 2003, the British intelligence worker leaked a memo from the . I call them the Usual Suspects., She thinks, given the current state of politics, that she might start to speak out more. Sam and Katharine Ross walked the red carpet before the ceremony. And a fireman does that if he bashes your house down to get to you. So, you know, it doesnt end, as Martin said. But you areis this part of the film true, where you have the authorities come in and say, Were questioning everyone, because someone here did this.. Theyre watching, you know, video games and bombs landing on Baghdadshock and awe. And towards the end of the Q&A session, an elderly gentleman put up his hand and said, Im very interested in the issue of Frank Koza. Of course he does. After they charged me, thats when they tried to deport my husband. But to discover that it was such a young and such a junior employee was extraordinary to us, yeah. And he didnt come back out again. The country, at the time, was being drummed into war by the Blair government, desperate to achieve the United Nations sanction for the imminent American-led invasion of Iraq. AMY GOODMAN: Whatever you tried to do didnt succeed. Don't let 'the intelligence and the facts be fixed around the policy' this time. The original content of this program is licensed under a. In the film, Official Secrets, she is played by Keira Knightley. [12] A government spokesman said that the decision to drop the case had been made before the defence's demands had been submitted. KATHARINE GUN: My MP, yes, at the time. The Tony Blair Conscience Fund or something? Protesters against the invasion of Iraq, February 2003. HERMESOEM . Truth has a habit of finding a voice, however. Iraq War Whistle Blower Katharine Gun Shares Her Story In 2003, Katharine Gun exposed a plot by U.S. security officials to spy on United Nations members as they ramped up pressure to secure a. I watched it in San Francisco, at the premiere, and my friend from childhood who lived there was with me. And the case was dropped. Anyway. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yes, we had a great, a dramatic moment at the Q&A session. Right? I could not get it in. The simple fact is, she says: Truth always matters at the end of the day., Official Secrets is released on 18 October. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. This is a great space to write long text about your company and your services. AMY GOODMAN: And a story that could have saved so many lives, except. ED VULLIAMY: But my point is not against Mr. Ahmed. Among them were Reverend Jesse Jackson, Daniel Ellsberg (the US government official who leaked the Pentagon Papers), and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Katharine Gun leaked that memo to the Observer, in the belief that the revelation of the proposed bugging and blackmail tactics might be enough to stop the war. Katharine Gun was a young specialist working for Britain's Government Communications Headquarters when she exposed a highly confidential memo that revealed the United States was working with. Does she tell her story when she meets new people? MARTIN BRIGHT: No, it was the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. You know, any tiny lingering doubts we had about whether this was a sophisticated Russian forgery, as some people suggested, or, you knowwe absolutely knew that this was real. AMY GOODMAN: But what caused you to say no? But a part of me thought: Damn we could have put the war on trial. [5] While at work at GCHQ on 31 January 2003, Gun read an email from Frank Koza, the chief of staff at the "regional targets" division of the American signals intelligence agency, the National Security Agency.[7]. is katharine gun still married to yasar. Gun is not active on social media and occasionally participates in small-scale conferences and discussions pertaining to politics. I was calling Nigel Jones, my MP. I mention those lines about working for the people rather than the government. British linguist, translator and whistleblower, This article is about the British whistleblower. Almost a million Iraqis. You come home. We have estimated Katharine Gun's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets. Was she immediately frightened of the consequences? As a film of her story is planned, she tells of her anger and frustration - but not her. How am I possibly going to do that? I think of journalists as being bullet-proof in a way, she says, but obviously not., She and Bright have done several question and answer sessions in the US after the film has been screened at various festivals. What were your thoughts then? is katharine gun still married to yasar. GAVIN HOOD: They failed. She then went on to get a Masters degree in Global Ethics. Lets find out! And the situation, the toxic abomination of Brexit in our country, has sort of rehabilitated Blair in a sort of bizarre way. Youre a bit, AMY GOODMAN: So, there is an uproar. The implosion continues. Ralph Fiennes plays Ben Emmerson. And really, you know, she had so many questions for me, and she really genuinely wanted to know about the whole situation. Following the dropping of the case, Liberty commented, "One wonders whether disclosure in this criminal trial might have been a little too embarrassing. So I tried to look for work. It was with the help of MP Nigel Jones that Gun finally managed to free Yasar, reasserting his right to stay in the UK. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yeah, I must say, when I found out how young she was, it did take me by surprise, and the fact that she was a translator. AMY GOODMAN: And when did that come out? GAVIN HOOD: Well, for me, what I love about the story is actually, on the one hand, its got this huge global political relevance, and it resonates still today. Explain what happened at the Q&A, Martin. KATHARINE GUN: So, on Wednesday morning, I called in sick. It was in a police cell that she uttered those two sentences that now seem to define the person she was and is. And the potential chink in the Official Secrets Act we had found, which could have become a defence for others, the defence of necessity [of speaking up to save imminent danger to life], it wasnt tested in court.. There is a sense of, Did it really happen? Is that really me?. GAVIN HOOD: So, we meet the first day, and after a few hours I think we warmed to each other. But, you know, it. They have one child. So, I thought it would be great. LED411IR1110cm6.7cm6.7cm(1 . And so, a lot, a lot later. Counted amongst the likes of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and John Kiriakou is Katharine Gun, a whistleblower whose actions revealed the shocking underbelly of international politics and also inspired a big-budget movie that introduced many to the issue. Youre the guy who got the goods on the author of the memo in the NSA, who wrote to GCHQ and said, Were going to bug the U.N. ambassadors.. KATHARINE GUN: I was waiting outside in the police station, yes. It was like watching a case that was very similar to my own. We sat in the bar of a city centre hotel, and talked about the ancient history of 2003. Of course I did, yes. AMY GOODMAN: How rarely a woman actress, an actor, gets to play, you know, the protagonist, the solid, strong hero, Gavin. Whatever you think of Kamala Harris, you can say, Which America do you want? Its millions. A New Film Tells Her Story, Part 2: 15 Years Later: How U.K. Whistleblower Katharine Gun Risked Everything to Leak a Damning Iraq War Memo, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License, John le Carr (1931-2020) on the Iraq War, Corporate Power, the Exploitation of Africa & More, Senate Holds Equal Rights Amendment Hearing as U.S. Court Denies Attempt to Include in Constitution, Bola Tinubu of Ruling Party Wins Nigeria Election Amid Low Turnout, Rigging Charges, Hundreds of Iranian Schoolgirls Suffered Toxic Poisonings in Last Four Months, Biden Names Labor Advocate Julie Su to Lead Labor Dept. is katharine gun still married to yasar . And as Martin has just said, and as Katharine put it so well in the film, you know, wars, unlike football and basketball games, do not end when the whistle blows. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. AMY GOODMAN: And then what happened? [14] On the day of the court hearing, Gun said, "I'm just baffled in the 21st century we as human beings are still dropping bombs on each other as a means to resolve issues. AMY GOODMAN: Katharine, has your 11-year-old daughter seen the film? What does she hope people will take from the film? So, 600,000 Iraqi people died. I felt awful. They have one child. Katharine Mcphee's Early Life, Career, Married Life And . I felt that I had done the morally right thing to do. S(22.523.0) M(23.023.5) L(23.524.0) LL(24.024.5) . Shes out. Her whistleblowing was not enough to change the path of history, of course, and her last-gasp act of courage was all but forgotten in the brutal shock and awe of war. Strange concept, but you do. Gavin Hoods 2019 film Official Secrets is the thrilling political drama that explores the events that followed British linguist Guns 2003 media leak. Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service and finally, struggling for work, left Britain altogether. It was in character, I think. She is married to Yasar Gun. Please do your part today. He didnt know I had leaked this memo. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Some of the information that would have been revealed at her trial, in particular Lord Goldsmiths conflicting arguments as to the legality of the invasion, did not fully emerge until the publication of the report of the Chilcot inquiry in 2016. And she said, I have to go, mostlyto find strong female characters, I have to go back 100 and 200 years and wear a corset to play a strong female character. And she said, This isI want to do this, because its a strong female character not in a corset. AMY GOODMAN: The networks, like Fox, and The Drudge Report, CNN refused to interview you, saying that this couldnt be a real memo because, unfortunately, your newspaper translated it into British. Yasar Gun is the husband of a British whistleblower, Katharine Gun, who revealed top-secret information. [10] Her case became a cause clbre among activists, and many people stepped forward to urge the government to drop the case. We thought that maybe it would be a security expert who had got wind of this, or someone, I mean, relatively senior within GCHQ who was worried about what was going on, and, you know. After the incident, Katharine struggled to find work, and her husband had grown disillusioned with Britain and then kept away from the general public eye. Uncategorized ; June 21, 2022 is katharine gun still married to yasar . At the time, as I well remember, the paper was split in response to the talk of war. It was weird. Im going, No, II dont. He said, Just google Katharine Gun and official secrets. So I googled official secrets Katharine Gun, becausethe title of our film comes from the Official Secrets Act, which is what she breached when she leaked the memo. [24] In July 2019, in a lengthy interview on the US program Democracy Now!, Gun, Gavin Hood (the film's director), and Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy (the journalists who broke the story of the leaked memo) discussed the events that the film describes. I hope, when shes ready for this story, she will. italian restaurants in warwick, ri . AMY GOODMAN: Were you actually in the car with him, waiting for him to go in for his check-in? AMY GOODMAN: But so, did you have any conversations with the former prime minister at the time, Tony Blair? teresa davis north carolina. AMY GOODMAN: What was it called? Machine Gun Kelly and Daughter Casie, 12, Hit the Red . GAVIN HOOD: What she discovers saysis a request from the NSA to GCHQ to hack, bug the private communications and the office communications of U.N. Security Council members, in particular the nonpermanent members, the more junior members. We will never know. AMY GOODMAN: So, and we want to get to all that, but nowwe want to get to all that, but right now youre showing this film around the country. as Katharine knows, it can be tougher to be right than to be wrong sometimes, if on those lucky occasions that one is right. And I had already not been able to eat for about 24 hours. I think I found like the missing piece. Anyway, thats why the scene. is katharine gun still married to yasar Authorities had attempted to deport Yasar back to the Middle East. Katharine Gun. This is Democracy Now! Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun in the film Official Secrets. is katharine gun still married to yasar You know, the conservative estimates are 125,000 up to a million. I mean, I think we did feel that we journalisticallyyou know, we could have done more as a newspaper. You know, these things happen. GAVIN HOOD: Ben Emmerson. Before I was charged, before my name came out, my biggest worry was that I would become a known person. AMY GOODMAN: Shes then arrested. Shes beginning to understand the issues, but she hasnt seen it yet. . And nor did the story end. As of 2019[update] she has lived in Turkey with her husband and daughter for several years. (In fact, those -our and -ise endings had been introduced by an Observer editorial assistant, innocently following house style guidelines as she copied out the memo into the system.)