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Sarah Harrison (journalist)

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Sarah Harrison
Sarah Harrison, with earrings and long, dirty blonde ponytail, faces left towards a microphone
Harrison at the 30th Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, 2013
OccupationJournalist
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma materQueen Mary, University of London,
City, University of London
GenreNews leaks
SubjectHuman rights violations, global surveillance and security

Sarah Harrison is a British former WikiLeaks section editor.[1] She worked with the WikiLeaks' legal defence and has been described as Julian Assange's closest adviser.[2] Harrison accompanied National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden on a high-profile flight from Hong Kong to Moscow while he was sought by the United States government.[3]

Early life

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Sarah Harrison grew up with two younger sisters and attended a private school in Kent. Her father, Ian Harrison, was an executive in the retail industry and her mother was a specialist in treating reading disabilities.[4][5][6]

Harrison studied English at Queen Mary, University of London. In 2008, she took an internship at the nonprofit Centre for Investigative Journalism. In late 2009, she met Gavin MacFadyen while applying for an unpaid internship, who recommended her to WikiLeaks the next year.[5][6] In 2010, she received a junior research position at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in 2010.[7]

WikiLeaks

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As an intern at the UK-based Centre for Investigative Journalism, Harrison began working with WikiLeaks in August 2010 and was assigned to Julian Assange before the Afghan War documents leak.[8][9][6] The job was supposed to last two weeks, but evolved into a full staff position.[5]

After Daniel Domscheit-Berg left WikiLeaks over a dispute with Assange, Harrison's role in the organisation increased, particularly with the US diplomatic cables leak and Assange's legal fight against Swedish extradition.[8] She worked with the WikiLeaks' legal defence led by Baltasar Garzón and Julian Assange's personal legal battles to avoid extradition to Sweden,[9] and was Assange's girlfriend,[4][5][10] closest adviser and gatekeeper.[2][11][6] In 2014, Harrison spoke about her support for WikiLeaks, saying "the greatest unaccountable power of today [is] the United States and our Western democracies."[12]

Harrison is a former WikiLeaks section editor.[1][2] Harrison also served as acting director of Courage Foundation, a UK trust to support whistleblowers originally cofounded by Julian Assange as the Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund,[13] from 2014[14] until April 2017, when WikiLeaks became a Courage beneficiary.[15]

Edward Snowden

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On June 23, National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden boarded a commercial Aeroflot flight, SU213, to Moscow, accompanied by Harrison of WikiLeaks, with an intended final destination of Ecuador due to an Ecuadorian emergency travel document that Snowden had acquired. However Snowden became initially stranded in Russia upon his landing in Moscow when his U.S. passport was revoked.[16][17][18] On 24 June 2013, WikiLeaks said that Harrison accompanied Snowden on a high-profile[19] flight from Hong Kong to Moscow en route to political asylum from US extradition.[2][8][19]

Dominic Rushe of The Guardian observed that Harrison was a "strange choice" because of her lack of legal qualifications compared to other WikiLeaks staff, such as human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.[9][8] At the time, Harrison had been with the organisation for over two years.[2] On 1 August 2013, she accompanied Snowden out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport after he was granted a year of temporary asylum.[20]

Exile from UK

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In 2014, Harrison said she was living in exile in Berlin because she had received legal advice that she would very likely be detained under Schedule 7 of the UK's Terrorism Act on entry to the UK. Under the Act she could be asked to provide information about WikiLeaks’ and Snowden's sources and refusal to answer would be a crime.[21] After an appeal ruling in January 2016, journalists were exempt from Schedule 7 and she visited London in September 2016.[4]

Award

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Harrison received the Willy Brandt Peace Prize in 2015.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sarah Harrison: "It's not the journalist's role to decide what the public can see"". European Centre for Press and Media Freedom. 5 August 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kelley, Michael (24 June 2013). "Meet Sarah Harrison, The Wikileaks Representative Travelling With Edward Snowden". Business Insider. Allure Media. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  3. ^ Corbett, Sara. "How a Snowdenista Kept the NSA Leaker Hidden in a Moscow Airport". Vogue. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Butter, Susannah (12 September 2016). "Sarah Harrison: the woman behind the whistleblowers". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "How a Snowdenista Kept the NSA Leaker Hidden in a Moscow Airport". Vogue. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Faiola, Anthony; Adam, Karla (5 July 2013). "Sarah Harrison, the woman from WikiLeaks". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ^ "'Courage is contagious' – DW – 11/08/2013". dw.com. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Rushe, Dominic (23 June 2013). "Edward Snowden's WikiLeaks escort one of Assange's closest advisors". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Rushe, Dominic (23 June 2013). "Edward Snowden's WikiLeaks escort one of Assange's closest advisors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Julian Assange's ghost writer breaks silence on failed autobiography". the Guardian. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  11. ^ "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 'mad, sad and bad', claims". The Independent. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  12. ^ Berthold Stevens (2 July 2014), Exposing the secrets of unaccountable power Deutsche Welle
  13. ^ Ackerman, Spencer (13 August 2018). "Julian Assange Went After a Former Ally. It Backfired Epically". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Launch of Courage and Snowden Campaign in Berlin, Wednesday 11th June". Courage Foundation. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Courage announces new director Naomi Colvin". Courage Foundation. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  16. ^ Shane, Scott (23 June 2013). "Offering Snowden Aid, WikiLeaks Gets Back in the Game". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  17. ^ Makinen, Julie (23 June 2013). "Snowden leaves Hong Kong; final destination unclear". Los Angeles Times.
  18. ^ "Whistleblower Edward Snowden on Trump, Obama & How He Ended Up in Russia to Avoid U.S. Extradition". Democracy Now!. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  19. ^ a b Shane, Scott (23 June 2013). "Offering Snowden Aid, WikiLeaks Gets Back in the Game". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  20. ^ "NSA spy leaks: Edward Snowden leaves Moscow airport". BBC News. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  21. ^ "Exclusive: WikiLeaks Editor Sarah Harrison on Helping Edward Snowden, Being Forced to Live in Exile". Democracy Now!. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Sarah Harrison: SPD ehrt Snowden-Vertraute für "politischen Mut"". Spiegel Online. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
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