London: Eight people, including five
employees of The Sun tabloid, were arrested on Saturday for
alleged bribes paid to police and defence officials, under an
operation instituted in the wake of the UK phone-hacking
scandal at the News of the World.
A serving police officer, a member of Britain's armed
forces, an employee of the Ministry of Defence and five
employees of The Sun tabloid are among eight people arrested
under Operation Elveden, which is probing corrupt payments to
police and public officials for information to be used in
sensational news stories.
The operation is among many being conducted at various
levels into unethical news-gathering practices in the British
news media.
Apart from the five employees of the The Sun, Scotland
Yard said those arrested included a 39-year-old serving
officer with the Surrey police, a 39-year-old employee of the
Ministry of Defence and a 36-year-old member of the armed
forces.
All eight were arrested under the Prevention of
Corruption Act 1906. They were being questioned at various
police stations, Scotland Yard said.
A statement from News Corporation confirmed that five
employees of The Sun were among those arrested.
The police officer, member of the armed forces and the
Ministry of Defence employee were arrested on suspicion of
corruption, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in
relation to both these offences.
"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," Scotland Yard said.
Scotland Yard said today's operation "is the result of
information provided to police by News Corporation's
Management Standards Committee."
"It relates to suspected payments to police officers and
public officials and is not about seeking journalists to
reveal confidential sources in relation to information that
has been obtained legitimately," Scotland Yard said.
it said that the remit of Operation Elveden has widened
to include the investigation of evidence uncovered in relation
to suspected corruption involving public officials who are not
police officers.
The operation is being run in conjunction with Operation
Weeting, the inquiry into the phone-hacking of voicemail
boxes.
It is part of a series of police probe sparked by
Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal.
Scotland Yard did not name the five journalists of The
Sun who were arrested, but they have been named by The
Guardian and other newspapers as deputy editor Geoff Webster,
photo editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief
foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 16:44