Press freedom 'doesn't cover snooping' (3)

(ANSA) - Strasbourg, June 23 - Press freedom does not cover illegal radio snooping, the European Court of Human Rights said Thursday in rejecting an appeal by three Italian journalists convicted of illegally intercepting police radio transmissions. The three convicted were the editor of Lecco Web daily Merateonline, Claudio Brambilla, and two of his journalists, Daniele De Salvo and Fabrizio Alfano.
    In their appeal, the three maintained that a search of their cars and office and seizure of their radio interception equipment in 2002 and their cour convictions in 2007 and 2008 violated their right to freedom of expression protected by article 10 of the European convention on human rights. But the Strasbourg court found that all the measures taken against them were in accordance with the law and had a legitimate end.
    The ECHR said journalists are bound to act responsibly and this duty of responsibility "does not only concern the content of the information they gather and disseminate but also the legality of their conduct, in particular in their relations with authorities during the exercise of their journalistic functions".
    The judges also underlined that, "notwithstanding the essential role that media have in a democratic society, journalists are not in principle exempted, by virtue of the protection afforded them by article 10 of the European convention on human rights, from having to respect the law".