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AFP investigate Scott Parkin "leak"
San Francisco, Thursday 16 March, 2006: US peace activist Scott Parkin has welcomed a Federal Police investigation into allegations that The Australian newspaper published leaked information regarding the ASIO security assessment that triggered his forced removal from Australia.
In a letter to NSW Greens MP Ian Cohen, Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison has confirmed that the Australian Federal Police are investigating allegations that ASIO leaked to The Australian newspaper.
On 22 September last year, The Australian published a front page story alleging that Mr Parkin had planned to "teach tactics of violence", including using force to free protestors from police custody and advocated throwing marbles to disable police horses.
Mr Parkin, who advocates nonviolent protest, immediately dismissed the allegations as a "smear". In December, a report by the Inspector General of Intelligence Services said that the claims published in The Australian were "not a reliable guide to the ASIO assessment".
Mr Parkin said: "I'm encouraged that the Federal Police appear to be taking this seriously enough to investigate.
"If there actually was a leak from ASIO, it is outrageous that information which has been repeatedly denied to me, my lawyers and the public on the grounds of national security was secretly and selectively fed to the media.
"If there wasn't a leak, then I want to know exactly who dreamed up this ridiculous smear, and how it ended up on the front page of a major newspaper."
In December Mr Parkin's lawyers launched a Federal Court action in an effort to quash the negative ASIO assessment. A directions hearing has been set for 4 April.