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Australia’s national broadcaster went to court yesterday to challenge a police raid on its offices and demand the return of files seized during the controversial operation.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) demanded an injunction to prevent police from accessing the seized files, which concern a two-year-old investigative report on war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
ABC managing director David Anderson said the suit also challenged the constitutionality of the search warrant used by police to conduct the raid “on the basis that it hinders our implied freedom of political communication.”
Agents of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the ABC headquarters in Sydney on June 5 as part of investigations into the leak of the so-called “Afghan files” by a government whistleblower.
The warrant they used allowed the police to “add, copy, delete or alter” material found on the ABC’s computers related to the Afghan story. That operation came a day after the AFP raided the home of a Canberra journalist and seized files and computer equipment over a year-old article on secret government plans to allow Australia’s main foreign intelligence agency to spy on Australians at home.
News Corp, the Rupert Murdoch-owned media giant which employed the Canberra reporter, said yesterday that it was also preparing a legal challenge to the AFP search of her home.
