MURDOCH’S EX-MUSE IN COURT

Rebekah Brooks, former director of News International, the British division of the Murdoch empire, four of her collaborators and her husband appeared in court on Wednesday in the investigation into the News of the World (NotW) wiretapping scandal.

The flamboyant 44-year-old redhead arrived with her husband at Westminster Court in London by taxi amid a sea of ​​cameramen and photographers. The couple, who appeared to be smiling, gave names, addresses and dates of birth.

The six co-accused are charged with “obstructing the course of justice”. All were released Wednesday on parole. Their next court appearance is set for June 22.

Ms. Brooks is accused of having sought to “remove seven boxes of documents from the archives of News International” in July 2011. She also tried, with the collaboration of her husband in particular, to “hide from the police documents, computers and electronic equipment”.

Rebekah Brooks, presented as the “fifth daughter of Rupert Murdoch”, was forced to resign in July 2011, after a meteoric rise in the group, where she had started as secretary in 1989.

In addition to Ms Brooks, her husband Charlie Brooks, 49, a personal friend of Prime Minister David Cameron, his personal secretary, his driver, his bodyguard and the head of security at News International were appearing on Wednesday.

The six accused are the first to appear since the reopening in early 2011 of the wiretapping investigation, which led to the arrest of around fifty people, including a former adviser to Mr. Cameron.

NotW, the flagship of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation group and the number one circulation of the British press, is believed to have had around 800 people listening in the early 2000s.

The scandal, which ended in 2007 with the conviction of a single journalist and a detective, rebounded in early 2011 with revelations from the Guardian on the extent of wiretapping, leading Rupert Murdoch to close the tabloid in July 2011 .

The appearance of Rebekah Brooks, emblematic personality of too much proximity between the media and the political world, is very embarrassing for Mr. Cameron.

The Camerons and the Brooks were linked to the point of spending Christmas Eve 2010 together and Rebekah Brooks’ hearing last month revealed that the Prime Minister was texting her signed ‘lol’ for ‘lots of love’.

Mr Cameron is due to appear before the Media Committee on Thursday.