Orgy stories breached privacy
2008-07-07 15:27
London - Formula One chief Max Mosley went to court on Monday to sue a tabloid newspaper for publishing stories, photos and explicit video of him consorting with prostitutes in what the paper said was a Nazi-themed orgy.
A lawyer for the motor racing boss said the News of the World had breached Mosley's privacy "for the amusement" of its readers.
The newspaper, however, says its readers have a right to know about the antics of Mosley, the son of Britain's best-known fascist politician, because he is a public figure.
Hidden cameras had recorded Mosley, 68, as he met five prostitutes in a London apartment for what the newspaper said was a five-hour sadomasochistic sex session that involved Nazi role-playing.
Mosley acknowledges visiting the prostitutes, but says the encounter was private and denies there were Nazi overtones. Unusually for a privacy case, his lawyers are demanding the newspaper pay large punitive damages to discourage similar stories.
After the story broke in March, Mosley faced many calls to quit as president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, which oversees Formula One. Despite the pressure, he won a confidence vote last month allowing him to continue at the helm until his fourth term ends in October 2009.
Spanking and being spanked
Opening the two-week High Court hearing, Mosley's lawyer James Price accused the newspaper of acting "as Peeping Tom, publishing for the amusement of the millions."
"Every ordinary human being expects the privacy of their sexual life to be respected and would be outraged if it was not," Price said.
Price said Mosley had taken part in sadomasochistic role play, including spanking and being spanked, but said no Nazi fantasies were involved. The News of the World said participants wore German-style uniforms and spoke in German as they acted out scenes involving prisoners and guards.
The Nazi allegations are especially sensitive because Mosley is the son of the late Oswald Mosley, leader of Britain's fascist movement before World War II and a friend of Adolf Hitler.
"This trial is not a forum to debate the evils or otherwise of Sir Oswald Mosley," Price said. "The sins of the father cannot justly be visited on Mr Mosley."
The newspaper said the case had huge ramifications for the media's ability to cover public figures.
"This case raises fundamental issues about the rapidly advancing law of privacy and the extent to which it allows powerful people to suppress information and stifle free speech," Tom Crone, the paper's legal manager, said on Sunday.
Video of the encounter on the newspaper's website was watched more than 1.4 million times before it was removed a day after being posted.
- AP