[20] After the charges against her were dropped in 2004, she found it difficult to find a new job. 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. We will never know. GAVIN HOOD: These are representatives at the U.N.. . GAVIN HOOD: This amazing lawyer, with great dignityElizabeth Wilmshurst, whos in the movie, Ralph Fiennes playing Ben Emmersonhas the cup of tea with her. When the film opens, Gun (Keira Knightley) is happily married to Yasar (Adam Bakri), a Turkish national living in the . Whatever you think of Kamala Harris, you can say, Which America do you want? I was calling Nigel Jones, my MP. The people who went in and smashed it up in 2003, do they watch the news? I would love to know. Otherwise we are living in dictatorships. AMY GOODMAN: And did they say they were going to charge you with the Official Secrets Act? Together they have a 13-year-old daughter. A New Film Tells Her Story, 15 Years Later: How U.K. Whistleblower Katharine Gun Risked Everything to Leak a Damning Iraq War Memo, Links to news stories (20032006) about Katharine Gun, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katharine_Gun&oldid=1141586730, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2020, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 20:22. And all of a sudden the news media is not interested in how we got into the war. We can all have a view on Saddam Hussein and whether he should be deposed or not. And we still dont know why the British government dropped the case. And when he didnt come out, I was panicking, you know, and I ran inside. And my husband was desperately worried about what was going on. is katharine gun still married to yasar. And he was the barrister who ultimately put the case before the court, as short as that trial was, on behalf of Katharine, and came up with a truly original defense to the Official Secrets Act, which is the defense of necessity. AMY GOODMAN: So, Katharine, as all of this is unfolding, the U.S. and Britain bomb Iraq. With me, it was this. I met her in August in Durham, when she was on a brief visit to see her father. [10] Her case became a cause clbre among activists, and many people stepped forward to urge the government to drop the case. As of 2019[update] she has lived in Turkey with her husband and daughter for several years. Sam and Katharine Ross walked the red carpet before the ceremony. But yeah, I mean, I was hugely impressed. There are familiar spy-movie pleasures to be had, too - one secret rendezvous between Ridley and Bright in a subterranean car park has . Guns story is not only an inspiration to her own daughter, but also to people around the world trying to be honest and brave citizens. But deep inside me, I didnt feel guilty. How many times has she seen the film now? (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.) And she hadnt said why she had resigned. Sign up for our Daily News Digest today! I mean, thats why MartinI remember Martin and Ed. I work for the British people. But this is not the issue. I wish wed pushed it harder with the boss class within The Observer. You know, in the end, there was a feeling, I think, whatI know that Katharine and I have talked about this a lot. You know, I felt totally at ease in her company. Yasur is a Turkish Kurd who is married to 47-year-old Katharine. And we had to sit and wait for two hours while they winged it down from London. Katharine Gun's income source is mostly from being a successful . She had just recently married her husband at age 27 when her life suddenly took an extreme turn at the next moment. Im on the whole a fairly shy person, she confessed in an interview. And I managed to get through to his assistant. On the one hand I was relieved because my life wouldnt have to be scrutinised in court. I hadnt realised the extent to which Martin in particular had gone out on a limb for this at the paper. And Mr.. . MARTIN BRIGHT: Well, I mean, I think at that time, you knowwe knew, I suppose, by that point, that our paths were destined to cross. Says He Will Sign Bill Criminalizing Drag as Old Photo of Him in Drag Circulates, Lori Lightfoot Loses Reelection for Chicago Mayor; Paul Vallas & Brandon Johnson Advance to Runoff, Reporter Seymour Hersh on How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline: Exclusive TV Interview, A War of Imperial Aggression: How Russias Invasion One Year Ago Changed Ukraine & the World, El Salvadors Pres. Shes out. Gun was 28 in 2003 and had been working at GCHQ as a Mandarin Chinese linguist for only a couple of years, when she became alarmed at Blair's public statements supporting an invasion of Iraq by insisting that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. 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. 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. The difference, I think, is that hereand your program and your viewers are testimony to thisyou have an opposition. He says, Wait a minute. She is married to Yasar Gun. italian restaurants in warwick, ri . Never used in the idea of, youve broken the law, breached the Official Secrets Act. [5] While waiting to hear whether she would be charged, Gun embarked on a postgraduate degree course in global ethics at Birmingham University. But it was, yeah, a moment of great humility, actually. Although Katharine Gun returned to the public eye in 2019 for the promotional press events for Official Secrets, she has largely retreated from the medias gaze since. We, as a collective group of countries, decide that we need to stop an event, a humanitarian disaster or a genocide or whatever. Gun was outraged by the email, and took a printed copy of it home with her. AMY GOODMAN: And the U.S. is still in Iraq. It is not often that a persons character is revealed in two sentences. By Gabrielle. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. A morality tale for the 21st century, Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun who, during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion,. We are defending ourselves. We knew for sure. And I went back, and I felt worse that day at home. The war did not end when George W. Bush said, Mission accomplished. It was only just beginning. Yeah, I mean, they knew, in fact, GCHQ, I think, because theres this system whereby, you know, before the news goes to print, the government and various organizations get the front pages, so they know whatslike, before it goes to press. And now you go back into work. Don't worry, we'll never share or sell your information. I do not gather intelligence so the government can lie to the British people. AMY GOODMAN: And so, what did you do when they said, Were going to take each one of you into a room.. And nor do newspaper stories. And they had already taken him down into the custody suite, which is, by the way, where I had been before. Why did you choose to do this film? Record Coal Prices Help Break Strike. And if you are working in government, make sure that you are really clued up about what is going on, and think very hard where your responsibility lies.. ED VULLIAMY: Thank you. is katharine gun still married to yasar is katharine gun still married to yasar. The author advocates anonymity. "[22], In January, 2019, the film Official Secrets, recounting Gun's actions in 2003, received its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, with Keira Knightley playing Gun. Main menu. But as it happened, I wasnt called up on Monday. AMY GOODMAN: And Alton went from The Observer and ultimately made his way, ED VULLIAMY: Via variousvia Rupert Murdochs Times, yes. Please do your part today. Gun is a singular presence, and she answers with characteristic care, speaking slightly haltingly, weighing her words. Of course I did, yes. kohler employee discounts. The story of Katharine Gun, a whistle-blower who exposed NSA spying in the lead-up to the Iraq War, gets the Hollywood treatment. Keira Knightley as Katharine Gun and Adam Bakri as Yasar Gun in Gavin Hood's "Official Secrets." (IFC Films) "Because it has been such a long time, I have been able to process it. AMY GOODMAN: Were going to leave it there, and I want to thank you all so much for being with us, Katharine Gun, the whistleblower; Observer journalists at the time, Martin Bright and Ed Vulliamy; and Gavin Hood, who is the director of Official Secrets, the story of Katharine Gun revealing the lies that led to the Iraq War on both sides of the ocean, in Britain and the United States, and led to so many deaths. [8] The plan might have contravened Articles 22 and 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which regulates global diplomacy. Just trying to figure out what to do next. But jokes aside, the reason she said to methe reason I constantly find myself going. The original content of this program is licensed under a. As a film of her story is planned, she tells of her anger and frustration - but not her. You cannot talk to anyone about your intelligence work. is katharine gun still married to yasar Dont just swallow what politicians tell you. It opens on August 30th. You know, I felt vindicated. You have the Iraq War continuing today, 16 years after George W. Bush, knowing there were not weapons of mass destruction, invades Iraq with Britain. Does she think that was a unique belief among colleagues at GCHQ? And Ben comes up with this idea. In the very typical British manner, we just pretended we had never met.. I mean, MI6 couldnt do that. I mean, I literallyI couldnt eat. In the very typical British manner, we just pretended we had never met, she recalled. Im Amy Goodman. AMY GOODMAN: They said you could have pled. Plead out. I mean, the pack of cards has gone from Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria. I mean, we certainly did meet in the courthouse. Gun had, of course, been forced to abandon her career in the civil service and finally, struggling for work, left Britain altogether. Katharine Teresa Gun, fdd Katharine Teresa Harwood 1974, r en brittisk lingvist och visselblsare. So how am I, with my tiny team of researchers, going to do anything like that? And so, its one of those moments where you realizeI mean, the chill went up my spine, like I thought, Ive got to get out of here. So, yes, that was not a good moment, yeah. AMY GOODMAN: You only lasted what? GAVIN HOOD: Theres an outrage. They have one child. KATHARINE GUN: And also, Im justwell, whether its natural inclination or whether its what was kind of drummed into us at GCHQ, but it was, you know, this the sense of being private and not trusting journalists or people who are trying to ferret out information from you. [12] At the time, the reasons for the Attorney-General to drop the case were murky. But then I thought, Well, no, I just cant go on calling in sick. So I went in, and my manager said, you know, Katharine, you look dreadful. Shes ordinary. And, with great respect, I think he did. So I tried to look for work. GAVIN HOOD: Well, its interesting you say that, because one of things Keira said to me that drew her to the script was, first of all, that she didnt have to wear a corset, because she does all these period dramas. GAVIN HOOD: She did work for the attorney general, right up until a matter of weeks or so before the war, at which point, when he changed his mind, under massive pressure, having visited Washington and spoken to Gonzales and all the various lawyers who worked for Rumsfeld and Bush and Cheney, and theyd sold him on this idea of using Resolution 678, which authorized the 1991 Gulf War, and said, Really, that war didnt end, and were really still at war with Iraq. Macdonald stated that Gun would not have received a fair trial without the disclosure of information that would have compromised national security. 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. I was called up on Tuesday. Jun 21, 2022 . AMY GOODMAN: And then what happened? KATHARINE GUN: Well, hes Turkish, from a Kurdish background, yeah. 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. Details at membership.theguardian.com. MARTIN BRIGHT: Yeah, who wrote the memo. When he didnt come out, I was panicking, you know, and I ran inside. I was aware I was doing something I wasnt supposed to be doing. Now, Martin, at this point, youve defended your story. They may have chosen to push those boundaries, but they did know the difference, and they knew that it mattered if they were caught. Youre, KATHARINE GUN: And then I was taken away. And through the lights, I couldnt quite see who the guy was. They called for your documents. Youre breaking the speed limit. Family (1) Spouse Yasar Gun (? And nor did the story end. I ended up, bizarrely, teaching a couple of my former colleagues at GCHQ. So, of course, I was a little bit sort of reserved. Don't let 'the intelligence and the facts be fixed around the policy' this time. Please do your part today. I dont have to be in makeup or wardrobe for hours. And she just said what she loved about Katharine isand I hope this isnt said the wrong way, and I keep saying itshes one of us. is katharine gun still married to yasar . Katharine Teresa Gun (ne Harwood)[1] (born 1974) is a British linguist who worked as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). At first they dont name you, but then they do. 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