On Tuesday I blogged on the disappearance of Newsnight‘s Trafigura investigation from its website. Now it emerges that a judgment on the libel action brought against the BBC by the oil firm is due today.
David Leigh’s Guardian piece curiously fails to link the video’s removal to the imminent legal ruling, though the story was covered elsewhere on the site.
BBC lawyers are said to be “engaged in a mediation process with Carter-Ruck”, which is likely to be the explanation for the feature’s disappearance. The case centres on Newsnight‘s claim that the dumping of toxic waste by Trafigura “caused deaths”, and not merely sickness.
Update: The BBC has withdrawn its allegation “that deaths, miscarriages or serious or long-term injuries were caused by the waste” and has apologised to Trafigura.
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