18 February 2014
Statement from Tim Worner, CEO of Seven West Media Seven can confirm that the Australian Federal Police today executed a number of search warrants on the company. These raids came as some surprise to us, given we fully cooperated with requests made of us by theAFP last week including ongoing correspondence between the AFP and our lawyers, all of which were responded to. Our lawyers’ offices were also raided despite their co-operation.
The AFP has previously asked for information on Schapelle Corby and any contract we may have entered into,and we provided all the information requested from us and instructed our lawyers to provide any additionalinformation they might have. The AFP did not seem to accept that we have not reached an agreement or understanding with Schapelle Corby.
We want to emphasize that at all times we have fully co-operated with the AFP in this matter. A raid on ouroffices at Pyrmont and at Pacific Magazines and at our lawyers’ offices involving around 30 police and eightsquad cars to find information we have already provided seems like overkill to say the least. But what is mostdisturbing is to also seek to use search warrants to access all of our news and corporate records. This is without justification and quite possibly unprecedented for a media organization.
We see any interference in fair reporting and newsgathering as regrettable. Seven has responded fully and comprehensively to all requests for information. We have a history of that type of co-operation. We also have a history of providing and breaking news stories and reporting matters of public interest. And Seven remains committed to that.
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