In Australia, several journalists are threatened with fines or even imprisonment for reports of abuse against former Vatican chief financial officer George Pell. The State Procuratorate of the State of Victoria has filed charges against 23 journalists. They are charged with violating a court-ordered news blackout.
Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years in prison for sexual abuse of two choir boys this month. The trial of the 77-year-old was not allowed to be reported for a long time.
The prosecution has now published the names of 23 journalists and 13 media companies, which are said to have violated the news blackout in different ways. Some Australian media had chosen to use the word "censored" as a headline, others had reported anonymously - about a high-ranking defendant charged with a serious crime that could not be reported.
Maximum sentence is five years in prison
Affected are renowned papers such as the "Sydney Morning Herald", the "Brisbane Times" or "The Age". Foreign journalists and the media are not among them. The trials are scheduled to begin in mid-April in a court in Melbourne. The maximum sentences for contempt of court are in Victoria at five years imprisonment and fines of more than 60,000 euros. Companies can be fined up to half a million Australian dollars - more than 300,000 euros.
During the several-month trial against Pell was practically not reported on the process - not actually in foreign media, if they could be received in Australia. In times of the Internet, this was a strict ban. The court justified the "Suppression Order" by arguing that juries could be influenced by the reports in a planned, other suit against Pell. Many saw this as a restriction of press freedom.