SYDNEY: Police raided the offices of Australia’s national broadcaster on Wednesday. Allegations that it had published classified material and followed a referral from the chief of the Australian Defense Force and a former acting defense secretary in 2017 caused the second raid on a media outlet in two days.
Complaints that the “outrageous” raids hindered media freedom are doing the round.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) carried out a search warrant at the head office of the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) in Sydney on Wednesday.
The ABC raid was authorized by a court and based on evidence that provided “sufficient suspicion that a criminal offence has been committed”, the AFP clarified.
That came a day after police raided the home of a News Corp editor.
“It is highly unusual for the national broadcaster to be raided in this way. This is a serious development and raises legitimate concerns over freedom of the press and proper public scrutiny of national security and defense matters.” ABC Managing Director David Anderson said. (Agencies)
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