Herald Sun: Fight for truth STAFF WRITER HERALD SUN APRIL 02, 2014 12:00AM
THE Herald Sun was last night silenced from publishing detail on Lawyer X which it believes is of extreme public interest.
Victoria Police took the extraordinary action of seeking a Supreme Court injunction at 7.30pm last night preventing the newspaper from publishing any information at all about Lawyer X, whom the Herald Sun had no intention of naming or identifying Lawyer X.
As the hearing commenced, the Herald Sun was ordered by the judge to stop its presses.
Herald Sun Editor Damon Johnston said that Victorians deserved to know the full truth.
“The police last night moved to prevent us from publishing important details that go to the heart of the public interest,” Johnston said.
But Victoria Police obtained the court order prohibiting the publishing of any information that would tend to identify the lawyer.
The police’s push to silence furtherreporting on Lawyer X also comes despite growing calls for a royal commission and the fact the issue could influence Victorian politics.
Johnston said: “We believe Victorians deserve to know the details of what we had intended to publish in today’s newspaper.”
Johnston said the Herald Sun would continue investigating and would explore all legal avenues in a bid to publish the details pulled from the paper shortly after 8pm.
Lawyer Rob Stary, an accredited criminal law specialist, said a royal commission or independent commission would be the only way to restore confidence in the justice system.
“We have got to restore public confidence in the justice system,’’ he said.
“A royal commission would achieve this as would a properly constituted independent commission,’’ Mr Stary said last night.
Victorian Labor Leader Daniel Andrews said: “We cherish our free media in this state. And it’s always a concern when the media is unable to publish a story they believe to be in the public interest.”
