The mainstream media in Australia has given little attention to the Murdoch trials in London. Rodney E Lever says this is an astonishing abuse of power.
What is now usually referred to in British media as “
the hacking trials” is now well into its fifth month in the historic
Old Bailey courts in London.
Very little of the cross examination of witnesses by the prosecutors and the defence counsel has appeared in Australia, where we generally refer to it as the “
Murdoch trials” — although Rupert Murdoch’s name is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the London proceedings.
It is his most senior executives who have been left to face the jury of seven women and three men. They have been observing and listening to everything every day, with the exception of breaks during the Christmas holiday periods.
The jurors have made their copious notes and no doubt drawn some impartial conclusions, hour after hour, day after day and week after week, with breaks at the weekends. These trials may yet challenge for longevity the post-war [ur= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials]Nuremberg Trials[/url], when the most senior members of the Nazi government of Germany were forced to face their accusers and, most of them, ultimately — the hangman.
First and foremost, the tapping of private telephone conversations by
News International employees – personnel who were trained in this illegal form of journalism – has been the subject of many hours of examination. This activity took place, sometimes within the offices of the Murdoch newspapers and sometimes from the private homes of the alleged offenders, where they could operate in secrecy.
These men were not always trained journalists. They were simply experts in their own trade of manipulating telephones for nefarious purposes.
They were paid six-figure sums for their work.
Two of them –
Glenn Mulcaire and
Clive Goodman – have already served time in prison. Police raided the homes of both men and found printed transcripts of conversations and voice recordings stored in both homes and also in the offices of News International.
Other members of the News International spy unit have offered evidence voluntarily to avoid their open convictions.
In the meantime, the two editors who were in charge of the Murdoch newspapers at the time of the main offences,
Andy Coulson and
Rebekah Brooks, have denied any knowledge of the illegal activities. Subsequently, Brooks became the head of News International and Coulson an adviser to the British prime minister.
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