MELBOURNE - Australian prosecutors are
seeking jail and fines for dozens of journalists and media
outlets for alleged contempt of court over their coverage of
Cardinal George Pell's child sex abuse trial last year, a court
summons showed on Tuesday.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in Victoria has asked
the state's Supreme Court to send journalists to jail or impose
fines for breaching a suppression order on coverage of the
trial, aiding and abetting overseas media's contempt of court,
and "scandalising the court".
The court has set April 15 for a first hearing on the
application. The summons included 23 journalists and 13 news
outlets. No foreign media or journalists were named.
Last year, the County Court of Victoria imposed a
suppression order on reporting of the trial of former Vatican
treasurer Pell to prevent prejudicing the jury in that case and
a second trial on older child sex offences that had been set for
March.
A jury in the first trial found Pell guilty on Dec. 11 of
abusing two choir boys. After the verdict, some Australian media
ran headlines flagging that an unnamed high-profile person had
been convicted of a serious crime that could not be reported.
In February, Judge Peter Kidd sentenced Pell to six years
jail. Pell is the most senior Catholic worldwide to have been
convicted for child sex abuse.
No Australian media named Pell or the charges in their
reporting in December although some overseas media, including
the Daily Beast and the Washington Post, named the cardinal and
reported he had been found guilty of sexually assaulting two
choir boys.
The gag order, which had applied across Australia "and on
any website or other electronic or broadcast format accessible
within Australia", was only lifted on Feb. 26 when the charges
for the second trial were dropped.
Journalists summoned for contempt of court include reporters
from Nine Entertainment Co, The Age, The Australian
Financial Review, Macquarie Media, and several News
Corp publications.
The list includes high-profile radio commentator Ray Hadley
and the editor-in-chief of the Australian Financial Review,
Michael Stutchbury.
Hadley's employer, Macquarie Media, declined to comment on
the allegations as they are now subject to legal proceedings.
"Nine and the named employees deny the allegations but as
the matter is now before the courts, Nine will not comment
further at this time," a Nine spokeswoman said.
Nine is owner of a television network as well as Fairfax
Media and the newspapers The Age and the Australian Financial
Review named in the summons.
News Corp, which had several newspapers and journalists
named in the summons, said: "We will vigorously defend all
charges and resolutely stand by our editors and journalists."
Under the state of Victoria's open courts law, breaches of
suppression orders can result in jail time of up to five years
and fines of nearly A$100,000 ($71,000) for individuals and
nearly A$500,000 for companies.