News International has slapped down questions by phone-hacking campaigner Tom Watson MP on whether Rupert Murdoch was aware of the bail conditions for arrested staff. The media mogul invited several suspended staff to return to work at The Sun last week.
In reaction to the Labour MP’s questioning, a News International source told The Huffington Post UK: "There are no bail conditions attached to those arrested from the Sun."
We are all keen to see good journalists employed in the conduct of excellent public interest reporting. I do not want to see Mr Murdoch’s actions undermine your investigation though. Mr Murdoch must not be aware of the terms of the bail that was awarded to his employees. The ‘no contact’ terms were there for a reason.
He also questioned if the police investigating allegations of corruption at the paper had "secured computer and paper filing systems".
After 10 members of staff were arrested and suspended at The Sun, sources at the paper confirmed five have already returned to work and the others are expected to come later this week.
However this does not include The News of the World's former features editor Matt Nixson, who was sacked from The Sun following News International's internal investigation into the phone hackings scandal. Nixson is now seeking damages from the paper for wrongful dismissal. He has denied any wrongdoing.