Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
Freedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report اظہارِ رائے کی آزادی محدود، پیکا میں ترامیم سے میڈیا کو شدید دھچکا: رپورٹDawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric ڈان کی بھارتی میڈیا سے جنگی بیانیہ ترک کرنے کی اپیلIndia bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack پہلگام حملے کے بعد بھارت نے پاکستان کے 16 یوٹیوب چینلز پر پابندی لگا دی'In A Different Realm' offers a philosophical take on cricket's greatest innings ان اے ڈیفرنٹ ریلم کرکٹ کی عظیم ترین اننگز پر ایک فکری نقطۂ نظر پیش کرتی ہےCoordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows ہم آہنگی یا محض اتفاق؟ پاکستانی صحافیوں کے ایک جیسے ٹویٹس نے سوالات اٹھا دیےThe PSL paradox: pageantry or progress? پی ایس ایل کا تضاد: دکھاوا یا ترقی؟Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion پی ٹی آئی سے نکالے جانے کے بعد شیر افضل مروت کے صحافیوں پر ذاتی حملےJournalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families صحافی ثناء اللہ خان کا انکشاف: ایف آئی اے یوٹیوبرز اور ان کے خاندانوں کے اکاؤنٹس بلاک کر رہی ہےA launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm' ان اے ڈفرنٹ ریلم کی رونمائی: ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز کی کتاب Sindhi journalist AD Shar brutally murdered, PFUJ declares three-day mourning سندھی صحافی اے ڈی شر کا بہیمانہ قتل، پی ایف یو جے نے تین روزہ سوگ کا اعلان کر دیاAJK government registers case against newspaper and staff آزاد کشمیر حکومت کا اخبار اور عملے کے خلاف مقدمہJournalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges FIA threats, possible arrest over reporting صحافی آرزو کاظمی کا دعویٰ: ایف آئی اے کی دھمکیاں، رپورٹنگ پر ممکنہ گرفتاری

'Fake Sheikh' undercover reporter jailed for 15 months

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published October 22, 2016

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'Fake Sheikh' undercover reporter jailed for 15 months

LONDON - British journalist Mazher Mahmood, renowned for his "fake sheikh" undercover sting operations for media mogul Rupert Murdoch's tabloids, was jailed for 15 months Friday for tampering with evidence in a high-profile trial.

Mahmood, 53, whose elaborate disguises have duped criminals, celebrities, and even royalty, plotted to get his driver to change a police statement during the drugs prosecution of Tulisa Contostavlos, a singer and former judge of the British version of the "X Factor" TV talent show.

Contostavlos had been about to go on trial accused of supplying cocaine for Mahmood, the self-styled "King of the Sting", as he posed as an influential Indian film producer while working on an exclusive story for the Sun on Sunday paper.

The conviction is set to ruin the career of Mahmood, one of Britain's best-known undercover journalists. News UK, Murdoch's UK newspaper arm, said it had sacked him.

Some 18 individuals caught out by Mahmood's stings are planning to take civil action against him and lawyers are reviewing cases in which his evidence had led to successful criminal prosecutions.

"Mazher has led scores of successful investigations during his 25-year career with the company," a News UK spokesman said, adding any legal claims would be "vigorously defended".

"His work has led to the exposure of criminality and wrongdoing. It is a source of great regret that his time with the company should end in this manner."

Prosecutors said Mahmood got his driver, Alan Smith, to change a statement he gave to detectives which would have made Contostavlos's conviction less likely by supporting her case that she was a victim of entrapment. Her trial collapsed in July 2014 after questions arose about Smith's evidence.

Earlier this month both men were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at London's Old Bailey court and on Friday Mahmood was jailed for 15 months while Smith was given a suspended 12-month prison term.

Mahmood made his name at Murdoch's News of the World, which was closed in 2011 after it was revealed senior journalists had been hacking voicemails on mobile phones to get stories.

He carried out the undercover inquiry which led to the 2011 conviction of three Pakistani cricketers for taking bribes to fix incidents in a match against England and also duped Sophie, Countess of Wessex, wife of Queen Elizabeth's youngest son Prince Edward, in 2001 when he posed as an Arab sheikh.

But other stings have led to prosecutions which collapsed, including the case against five men accused of plotting to kidnap singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham in 2002. - Reuters

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