South African police arrested a British journalist who ran a report in tabloid newspaper Sunday Mirror terming the much-talked about rescue of Reshma after 17 days from the rubbles of Rana Plaza a “hoax”.
The journalist was accused of harbouring the fan who allegedly entered the England dressing room during 2010 Football World Cup.
Simon Wright, as senior reporter with the Sunday Mirror, was arrested at Cape Town International Airport at 8:25am on Sunday, reports The Guardian.
South Africa’s National Commissioner of Police General Bheki Cele said: “We (police) have reason to believe that this incident was orchestrated, and involved the co-operation of a number of individuals. The police strongly believe the motive was to put the World Cup security in a bad light, and possibly to profit from this act.”
He appeared in a special World Cup court in Cape Town Sunday night, on charges of defeating the ends of justice and flouting the immigration act. He was granted bail but his passport was confiscated, and he will appear in court again on Tuesday.
The Sunday Mirror ran an interview with a fan, Pavlos Joseph, in which he described how he was looking for the toilet and found himself in the England dressing room following their dispiriting 0-0 draw with Algeria.
Joseph said he told David Beckham: “David, we’ve spent a lot of money getting here. This is a disgrace. What are you going to do about it?”
Joseph was arrested two days after the match, and charged with trespassing. He will appear at the same court as Wright, but in a separate hearing, tomorrow. At a previous hearing, Joseph was banned from attending any further World Cup matches.
However, Trinity Mirror Plc, the publisher of Sunday Mirror, in a statement on Monday said the story was a legitimate one and insisted that Wright had no communication with the fan, Pavlos Joseph, prior to the incident, which followed England's second group match, against Algeria at the Green Point stadium in Cape Town.
Cele said: “Mr Wright has admitted to harbouring and interviewing Mr Joseph at a time when the police were searching for the latter in order to effect an arrest. The second criminal charge against Mr Wright relates to his alleged conduct in booking hotel accommodation for Mr Joseph using false or incorrect particulars.”
Simon Wright, in another report published on June 30 at Sunday Mirror, claimed that the whole miracle rescue of Reshma Begum from Rana Plaza sit after 17 days is a “hoax.”