Reporters Without Borders said the images of AFP officers entering the ABC headquarters in Sydney on Wednesday was more like a scene from an authoritarian country, rather than a democracy.
“Persecuting a media outlet in this way because of a report that was clearly in the public interest is intolerable,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.
“This kind of intimidation of reporters and their sources can have devastating consequences for journalistic freedom and independent news reporting.”
ABC Managing Director David Anderson said he was heartened by the international coverage and support from colleagues across the globe.
"I had an email come in overnight from the director-general of the BBC offering his personal support," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"This has got the world's attention as to how important it is that we are able to go about our journalism."
Sydney Morning Herald
A sensational federal police raid on the ABC's Sydney headquarters has sparked a political firestorm over national security and the freedom of the press which poses significant tests for the re-elected Morrison government and the Labor opposition.
Coming just a day after a separate raid on the home of a News Corp political journalist, the search warrants related to the publication of stories in 2017 that accused Australia's elite special forces in Afghanistan of killing unarmed men and children.
The ABC's Sydney studios have been targeted in a raid by the Australian Federal Police - over a story known as the Afghan Files.
The Australian Federal Police stressed the raids were unrelated, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was forced to affirm the independence of the AFP from government after Labor queried the timing of the raids.
The ABC raid took place a week after a former Australian military lawyer was committed to stand trial in the ACT Supreme Court charged over the leaking of documents now known as the "Afghan Files" to the ABC.
“Persecuting a media outlet in this way because of a report that was clearly in the public interest is intolerable,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.
“This kind of intimidation of reporters and their sources can have devastating consequences for journalistic freedom and independent news reporting.”
ABC Managing Director David Anderson said he was heartened by the international coverage and support from colleagues across the globe.
"I had an email come in overnight from the director-general of the BBC offering his personal support," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"This has got the world's attention as to how important it is that we are able to go about our journalism."
Sydney Morning Herald
A sensational federal police raid on the ABC's Sydney headquarters has sparked a political firestorm over national security and the freedom of the press which poses significant tests for the re-elected Morrison government and the Labor opposition.
Coming just a day after a separate raid on the home of a News Corp political journalist, the search warrants related to the publication of stories in 2017 that accused Australia's elite special forces in Afghanistan of killing unarmed men and children.
The ABC's Sydney studios have been targeted in a raid by the Australian Federal Police - over a story known as the Afghan Files.
The Australian Federal Police stressed the raids were unrelated, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was forced to affirm the independence of the AFP from government after Labor queried the timing of the raids.
The ABC raid took place a week after a former Australian military lawyer was committed to stand trial in the ACT Supreme Court charged over the leaking of documents now known as the "Afghan Files" to the ABC.
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