“Seven can confirm that the Australian Federal Police today executed a number of search warrants on the company,” begins Worner’s statement. “These raids came as some surprise to us, given we fully cooperated with requests made of us by the AFP last week including ongoing correspondence between the AFP and our lawyers, all of which were responded to. Our lawyers’ offices were also raided despite their co-operation.”
Worner goes on to reveal that the AFP had previously requested any information the network had on Schapelle Corby in relation to a contract they might’ve entered into with the convicted drug mule, information Worner pains to point out they willingly provided: “We provided all the information requested from us and instructed our lawyers to provide any additional information they might have.” The AFP, it appears, did not agree:
“We want to emphasize that at all times we have fully co-operated with the AFP in this matter. A raid on our offices at Pyrmont and at Pacific Magazines and at our lawyers’ offices involving around 30 police and eight squad cars to find information we have already provided seems like overkill to say the least. But what is most disturbing is to also seek to use search warrants to access all of our news and corporate records. This is without justification and quite possibly unprecedented for a media organization.
We see any interference in fair reporting and newsgathering as regrettable. Seven has responded fully and comprehensively to all requests for information. We have a history of that type of co-operation. We also have a history of providing and breaking news stories and reporting matters of public interest. And Seven remains committed to that.”
Speaking towards the purported $2 million interview sum and echoing the repeated (unrelated) sentiments of the network’s stalwart O’Keefe brother, veteran Channel 7 journalist Mike Willisee has this afternoon stated that “There is No Deal.”
Photo: Putu Sayoga via Getty
