An Australian state prosecutor has sent letters threatening to charge media organizations and dozens of journalists with breaching a gag order that banned reporting of Cardinal George Pell's convictions on charges of sexually molesting two choirboys, lawyers said Thursday.
Reporting in any format accessible from Australia of details of the former Vatican economy chief's convictions in a Melbourne court in December was banned by a judge's suppression order that was only lifted this week.
Such suppression orders are commonplace in the Australian and British judicial systems, and breaches can result in jail terms.
But the enormous international interest in a criminal trial with global ramifications has highlighted the difficulty in enforcing such orders in the digital world.
Victoria state Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd has written more than 100 letters to journalists and media organizations advising that she intends to charge them with offenses relating to reporting on the Pell case, said Jason Bosland, the deputy director of the Center for Media and Communications Law at Melbourne University.
Bosland, a leading expert on suppression orders, said he calculated the number from consulting lawyers representing media clients facing charges.
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A lawyer involved in several cases, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that more than 100 letters were sent.
Some individuals received two or three letters, so the number of media employees facing charges could be less than 100, the lawyer said.
He and Bosland said the charges were aiding and abetting breaches of the suppression order by international media, breaching the suppression order, scandalizing the court and sub judice contempt.
Anthony Loncaric, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, declined to comment.
Two of Australia's largest media organizations, Nine and Australian Broadcasting Corp., confirmed that they had received letters. News Corp., another major media organization that was criticized by a Pell lawyer for running a headline saying "CENSORED" following the conviction, declined to comment.
Nine spokeswoman Miranda Ward said the company had received a letter accusing it of breaching the suppression order.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. confirmed the public broadcaster had received a letter from Judd. The ABC declined to provide details of the content of the letter, except to say it was related to ABC's coverage of the Pell trial.
"We stand by all of our coverage and our actions in this matter," the broadcaster said in a statement.
"We have responded to the DPP strongly contesting any suggestion of wrongdoing on our part." Boland said the number of journalists facing prosecution was unprecedented.
"I've never seen a situation where such a huge number of people have been shown show-cause notices," Boland said. "Normally it's sent to one or two media outlets. But this is an extraordinary approach in extraordinary circumstances."