No cue for treason
What exactly actually happened in the netzpolitik.org affair? That is the name of a journalism website that had published documents from Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, in the spring. These suggested the agency should set up a special unit to better monitor online social networks.
But by publishing the documents, the agency argued, the site had committed treason - and the agency's president, Hans-Georg Maassen, filed a complaint. And Germany's prosecutor-general began to investigate.
Maassen's aim was probably less to prosecute the journalists, and more to find out who in his office had passed classified information to the press. In reality, less and less of what internal intelligence would like to keep secret is actually staying secret.
A few weeks ago Maassen even lamented openly about this state of affairs.
His employees had toiled many hours a week to gather explosive material - about Islamists in Germany, about left- and right-wing radicals - only soon to find similar reports on the Internet and in newspapers.
The anger is understandable, but why the immediate treason investigation? After all, the matter of the new Constitutional Protection investigation team was addressed openly a few weeks ago in parliament, in front of cameras.
Even so, Harald Range, the German prosecutor-general, opened an investigation. And no-one really noticed. The justice minister didn't, the interior minister didn't, nor did the chancellor. That was, until netzpolitik.org itself took action and reported the probe just over a week ago.
And since then, no one will admit to having known anything. Accusing journalists of treason means bringing out the big guns - and whoever aims them is unlikely to make friends and will instead face the wrath of the press. So everyone distanced themselves: the judiciary, the interior minister and, through her spokeswoman, the chancellor.
Only Range remained stubborn: he rejected any interference in his work. The only problem is, he is not independent, and never has been. He always had to take the government's viewpoint into account in his investigations.
His boss was Justice Minister Heiko Maas. And he felt he had to fire Range because he had, in plain view, turned against the government. It was no longer a matter of treason, but loyalty.
Forget judicial independence: In Germany, the courts are truly independent, but not prosecutors - not even the highest.
But back to the core issue: It's extremely unlikely that the two journalists from netzpolitik.org would ever have landed behind bars. Ultimately, it was only an investigation. Charges were not filed, even if that has been alleged in some hysterical comments.
Perhaps it would be good for a debate to take place about what intelligence services can still keep secret in times of investigative Internet research and whether there are also limits to freedom of the press (not in this case, mind you). And whether it is right for politicians to constantly emphasize the independence of the judiciary (and for us to praise them for defending it), but be quick to meddle if it suits them. The German Association of Judges has long complained that public prosecutors in Germany are not really free.
So now what? Treason? Affairs of state? All sides need to cool down - the summer is already hot enough in Germany.
Have something to add? Leave your comment below.