英國小報電話竊聽醜聞涉案八人被起訴

British prosecutors accused a group of former top journalists at News Corp.'s now-closed News of the World tabloid including former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson of conspiring to hack the voice mail of more than 600 celebrities, sports stars, politicians and crime victims.

英國檢方對新聞集團(News Corp.)旗下已關閉的小報《世界新聞報》(News of the World)前主編布魯克斯(Rebekah Brooks)和庫爾森(Andy Coulson)等多位高層報業人士提出指控，稱他們曾密謀劫持600多位名人、體育明星、政界人士和罪案受害人的語音郵件。

The charges are the result of an 18-month police investigation into phone-hacking at the Sunday tabloid. The eight defendants seven former News of the World journalists and a private detective collectively face 19 charges of conspiracy to intercept communications from October 2000 to August 2006.

Associated Press本次電話竊聽醜聞中有八人面臨指控，前《世界新聞報》主編布魯克斯是其中之一。警方對這份週日小報的電話竊聽案進行了長達18個月的調查，上述指控是在調查結束後提出的。八位被告當中，有七位是曾供職《世界新聞報》的新聞工作者，一位是私家偵探，他們共面臨19項指控，罪名是在2000年10月至2006年8月間密謀截獲通訊內容。

The charges allege that the individuals conspired to intercept voice-mail messages tied to celebrities including Paul McCartney and Brad Pitt and others in the news, such as Milly Dowler, a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl. The revelation last summer that the abducted girl's voice mail had been hacked turned a long-simmering problem into an explosive scandal for News Corp., leading to a string of executive departures and the closing of the News of the World.

指控稱，被告曾密謀截獲與有關人物綁定的語音信箱的內容，其中既包括前披頭士樂隊成員保羅•麥卡特尼(Paul McCartney)和布拉德•皮特(Brad Pitt)等名人，也包括被謀殺的13歲女學生道勒(Milly Dowler)等見諸報端的受害者。去年夏天有人爆料稱，被綁架的女孩道勒的語音信箱曾被竊聽，這讓一個發酵已久的問題瞬間變成了新聞集團的爆炸性醜聞，多位高管爲此去職，《世界新聞報》也被關閉。

Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson are the most high-profile of the eight who have been charged. After running the News of the World from 2000 to 2002, Ms. Brooks went on to edit News Corp.'s tabloid the Sun and then headed up all of News Corp.'s British newspapers starting in 2009. She was a top lieutenant to News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch before resigning in July 2011.

布魯克斯和庫爾森是被起訴的八人當中最引人注目的兩個。繼2000年至2002年間執掌《世界新聞報》後，布魯克斯成爲了新聞集團旗下《太陽報》(Sun)的主編，之後又於2009年一路高升至新聞集團英國報業負責人。2011年7月辭職前，布魯克斯曾是新聞集團董事長兼首席執行長默多克(Rupert Murdoch)的高級助理。

Mr. Coulson stepped down from the News of the World's editorship in 2007 after the phone-hacking problem first came into view, saying he was unaware of the activity. He later became the chief communications aide to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, a job he left in January 2011. But his association with Mr. Cameron has created a continuing political problem for the prime minister, who has been forced to admit the error of hiring a disgraced tabloid editor as a top aide.

2007年電話竊聽案首次曝光後，庫爾森便辭去了《世界新聞報》主編一職，並說自己對此毫不知情。後來，庫爾森開始擔任英國首相卡梅倫(David Cameron)的首席公關助理，這份工作他一直做到2011年1月。不過，他與卡梅倫的關係成了這位英國首相揮之不去的政治問題。卡梅倫曾在無奈之下被迫承認，僱用一名失信的小報主編做首席助理是個錯誤。

Ms. Brooks faces three phone-hacking charges; Mr. Coulson faces five. They are both charged with conspiring to hack the voice-mail messages of Milly Dowler.

布魯克斯面臨三項電話竊聽指控，庫爾森面臨五項指控。他們均被指密謀竊聽了道勒的語音信箱內容。

Also charged are former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, former news editors Ian Edmondson, Greg Miskiw and James Weatherup and former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck. Prosecutors also charged Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator hired by the tabloid.

此外，《世界新聞報》前執行主編庫特納(Stuart Kuttner)、前新聞編輯埃德蒙森(Ian Edmondson)、米斯基(Greg Miskiw)和韋德勒普(James Weatherup)及前首席記者瑟爾貝克(Neville Thurlbeck)也被起訴。曾受聘於《世界新聞報》的私家偵探穆爾卡伊拉(Glenn Mulcaire)亦受到檢方起訴。

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to intercept communications is two years in prison per charge or a fine of an uncapped amount. By filing conspiracy charges, prosecutors seek to prove that the parties involved agreed to intercept the communications of victims.

合謀截獲通訊內容的最高量刑是每項指控被判入獄兩年，或處上不封頂的罰款。檢方發起這些合謀指控的目的是希望設法證明，涉案人員曾同意截獲受害人的通訊內容。

Ms. Brooks denied conspiring to hack voice mails. 'I am not guilty of these charges,' she said in a statement Tuesday. 'I did not authorize, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship.' She called the charge regarding the hacking of Milly Dowler's voice mail 'particularly upsetting' and 'untrue,' adding that she plans to defend herself vigorously.

布魯克斯否認曾密謀竊聽語音郵件。她在週二的聲明裏說，我沒有犯罪，對於我擔任主編期間發生的電話竊聽事件，我既沒有授權，也並不知情。布魯克斯將那項竊聽道勒語音郵件的指控形容爲“非常令人不快”和“不屬實”，還說她打算大力爲自己辯護。

Ms. Brooks and five others were charged with perverting the course of justice in May. She has denied those charges, as well.

布魯克斯與另外五人今年5月曾因妨礙司法公正被起訴。她對這些指控也矢口否認。

The charges announced Tuesday result from an investigation that London's Metropolitan Police reopened in January 2011. The reopening of the probe set off a chain of events that ultimately led News Corp. to close the 168-year-old News of the World.

2011年1月，倫敦大都會區警察局重新展開了一項調查，週二宣佈的這些指控就是這次調查的結果。重啓這項調查引發了一系列後續事件，最終導致新聞集團關閉了有168年曆史的《世界新聞報》。