British prosecutors decided Tuesday to file charges against eight people for illegal wiretapping of the press, including the former CEO of News International, Rebekah Brooks , and Andy Coulson , former head of the press by Prime Minister David Cameron between 2007 and 2011. This is the largest legal progress so far in this case, which has affected much dela political elite and British high society.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that all criminal charges and will appear before a court at a date to be determined, and could be sentenced to up to two years in prison. The indictment accuses the defendants, except for Glenn Mulcaire, conspiracy and illegal wiretapping conducted without legal authorization between October 2000 and August 2006. Among the affected tracks, there are people close to the footballer Wayne Rooney, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or the Labour MP David Blunkett. The prosecution says also that the plot also affected ordinary people like Amanda Dowler, a girl kidnapped in 2002 while returning home from school.
Three other suspects have run more luck, as the prosecutor has said there are no indications of criminal activity, so it has dropped. Their names are not published, however, since the police have asked that they continue to investigate.
The eight defendants are former employees of News International, the British arm of News Corporation media empire of Rupert Murdoch. Brooks and Coulson committed the alleged crimes as directors of the News of the World, the tabloid Murdoch empire who led the plot tracks popular phones illegal.
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