Murdoch staff arrested
British detectives on Saturday searched the offices of Rupert
Murdoch’s The Sun and arrested four journalists and a policeman in a
widening probe into the bribing of police for information. The
development finally drags Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper into the
turmoil at Murdoch’s empire, after its stablemate the News of the World
was shut down in disgrace in July amid a scandal over phone hacking.
Police said they made the arrests after information was provided to
police by Murdoch’s US-based News Corporation -- in what commentators
said was a clear effort by the company to detoxify the brand.
The BBC and the Guardian newspaper named the arrested Sun journalists
as former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, former managing editor Graham
Dudman, current crime editor Mike Sullivan and current head of news
Chris Pharo.
In an email to staff, Tom Mockridge, the chief executive of Murdoch’s
British subsidiary News International, said Saturday the company had
provided legal support to the arrested men.
“Despite this very difficult news, we are determined that News
International will emerge a stronger and more trusted organisation,”
Mockridge wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The
Guardian.
“We must all support Dominic (Mohan, the editor of The Sun) who will
be leading his staff to deliver, as always, a great paper for Monday and
going forward.” Scotland Yard said it had arrested two men aged 49 and
57 in dawn raids at their homes in Essex, east of London, and a man aged
48 at his home in the capital.
A 42-year-old man was later arrested after reporting at a police
station.
They were held on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting
misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both these
offences.
A 29-year-old from the force’s Territorial Policing command was
arrested at the London police station where he works on suspicion of
corruption, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy.
All five were granted bail late on Saturday.
A police statement released earlier said: “The home addresses of
those arrested are currently being searched and officers are also
carrying out a number of searches at the offices of News International
in Wapping, East London. “Today’s operation is the result of information
provided to police by News Corporation’s Management and Standards
Committee.
“It relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about
seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to
information that has been obtained legitimately.” News Corp. confirmed
that four of the men arrested either worked or used to work at The Sun.
It said it had set up the committee after the phone-hacking scandal
“to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of
cost, and to proactively cooperate with law enforcement and other
authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles.”
“As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the (committee) provided
information to the Elveden investigation which led to today’s arrests.”
Thirteen people have now been arrested under Operation Elveden, the
police investigation into allegations that journalists paid officers for
information.
It was sparked by concerns about the working practices of the British
press after the News of the World scandal and runs alongside Operation
Weeting, the probe into phone hacking under which 17 arrests have so far
been made.
The scandal at the News of the World erupted in July when it emerged
journalists had listened to the voicemails not just of celebrities and
politicians but also a murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler.
Amid public outrage, Murdoch closed down the 168-year-old weekly.
The scandal also prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to order a
wide-ranging inquiry into the practices and ethics of the press, which
began hearings last year.
The Sun has daily sales of more than 2.5 million. It is known for its
racy celebrity-driven content and colourful headlines, but also for
self-proclaimed influence with the electorate. Sun editor Mohan told the
phone-hacking inquiry earlier this month that he had no knowledge of
phone-hacking at the paper and added that the daily could be a “powerful
force for good.”
- AFP
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