London: British police have interviewed a
Guardian journalist over the alleged leak of information from
the investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World
tabloid, the newspaper said on Wednesday.
The Guardian identified the reporter as Amelia Hill, one
of several journalists at the paper who have been pursuing the
phone hacking story.
Although neither London police nor the paper made the
reason for Hill's interrogation clear, one of the detectives
investigating the phone hacking case has recently been
arrested on suspicion of "unauthorised disclosure of
information."
The officer has not been identified. The Guardian didn't
say whether the previous arrest was connected to Hill's
questioning or comment on how she was alleged to have received
her information.
But it did warn that other reporters should take note of
the case, arguing that "journalists would no doubt be
concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations
between off-record sources and reporters."
Relations between the media and Britain's largest police
force, known colloquially as Scotland Yard, have become
increasingly tense following revelations that the police did
little to investigate the activities of the now-defunct News
of the World, whose reporters spent years systematically
intercepting voicemails of high-profile people in a
wide-ranging campaign of illegal espionage.
The Guardian has played an instrumental role in exposing
both the scandal and embarrassing Scotland Yard, which stands
accused of overlooking the allegations for fear of
antagonising Murdoch's powerful media empire. Allegations that
reporters routinely bribed police have also dented the force's
reputation.
Two top police officers have already lost their jobs over
the scandal and those leading the revived police investigation
into phone hacking have promised to be more thorough in their
work.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 07, 2011, 23:58