AFP will not lay charges against Annika Smethurst over publishing of classified intelligence documents

The Australian Federal Police will not lay any charges against News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst after investigating leaked documents she used in an article for News Corp papers.

Last year, police raided the home of political reporter Ms Smethurst over her reporting on the documents, though police today said no charges would be laid.

The raid on Ms Smethurst’s home came one day before the AFP launched raids on the ABC over separate reporting, sparking a national debate about press freedom.

• Journalist’s home raided over alleged national security leak

Ms Smethurst’s story was published in the Sunday Telegraph, which is owned by News Corp. It reported on plans to expand the powers of the Australian Signals Directorate, and included images of documents marked “secret” and “top secret”.

Until today, police had not ruled out charging Ms Smethurst.

Earlier this year, the High Court ruled the search warrant used to raid Ms Smethurst’s home was invalid, due to a technicality.

However, the court allowed police to retain the material they seized for use in any future prosecution.

Police will speak on the closure of their investigation at 1:30pm.

More to come.