A few days ago, the state security organs announced that a manager of a courier company had been sentenced to administrative detention in accordance with the law for leaking state secrets, which seriously hindered the investigation of the case. This incident has once again sparked reflection on the importance of guarding state secrets.
Zhang, male, from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, is the manager of the business department of an express company. When the state security organs were investigating a criminal case, they met with him and asked him to cooperate in providing relevant evidence. Zhang said that he would fully cooperate
But shortly after the security officers left, Zhang revealed the names of the subjects of the investigation and the facts of the ongoing investigation to his colleagues. Unsurprisingly, the news quickly reached the suspect's ears through various channels.
After learning that he was being the target of an investigation, the suspect quickly disappeared, causing the public security organs to arrest him in a difficult situation for a while. After several months of pursuit, the person involved in the case was finally apprehended. And Zhang's breach of confidentiality was also punished accordingly.
According to the law, anyone who divulges state secrets and seriously affects the investigation will be punished by detention or a fine. In view of Zhang's attitude of admitting his mistake, the security authorities decided to impose a penalty of 3 days of administrative detention and a fine of 30,000 yuan. Zhang said that he would learn a lesson, and in the future, he would strictly abide by the confidentiality regulations and not make such mistakes again.
In fact, Zhang's experience is not unique. In recent years, there have been a number of incidents in which citizens have been punished for recklessly disseminating information related to national security. Among them, the emerging media, represented by the Internet, has become the hardest hit area for the rapid dissemination of all kinds of confidential information.
Experts said that it is the duty of every citizen to keep state secrets. Article 11 of the National Security Law, which came into effect on January 1 this year, clearly stipulates that "citizens and organizations shall fulfill their obligations to safeguard national security and provide facilitation or other assistance for national security work." The Counter-Espionage Law also sets clear requirements on citizens' confidentiality obligations.
However, some citizens, including Zhang, have cognitive biases and do not fully understand the importance of secrecy, or lack accurate judgment on whether certain information is a state secret that needs to be kept secret. There is also resistance to the need to maintain confidentiality as a constraint on individual freedom of expression. These problems urgently need to be resolved through legal propaganda.
In addition, the cultivation of personal confidentiality is also crucial. Experts suggest that the state can set up national security education in primary and secondary schools to help young people establish a correct concept of secrecy from an early age. For adults, the unit can also carry out regular confidentiality training to ensure that employees master the confidentiality regulations and operating rules. Only when the awareness of confidentiality is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people can citizens consciously fulfill their duty of confidentiality.
Of course, government departments should also strengthen work guidance to avoid causing unnecessary distress to the public. For information that is uncertain whether it needs to be kept confidential, citizens can be proactively informed rather than blindly relying on punishment to correct it. For example, when meeting a meeting involving an investigation, clearly inform the other party that the relevant content is a state secret that needs to be kept confidential, so as to avoid subjective judgment errors on the part of citizens.
This punishment incident once again reminds the whole society of the importance of guarding state secrets. This is not only a legal obligation, but also a responsibility that every citizen should bear. Only when state secrets are not leaked can the important weapons of the country operate safely. It is believed that through the joint efforts of all sectors of society, citizens' awareness and ability to keep secrets will be strengthened day by day, providing a solid guarantee for safeguarding national security.