Four media groups implicated in the Interbrew leak case earlier this year are to ask the European Court of Human Rights to protect the identity of their sources following rulings by UK judges ordering disclosure of leaked documents.

In a joint submission to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, The Independent, The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Times and Reuters, said the judgment of the UK courts represented a breach of the right to freedom of expression.

The documents in question, which it is now believed had been doctored, suggested that a takeover bid by Interbrew for South African Breweries was imminent. The FSA now contends that the newspapers had been used in a scam to manipulate the share price of both companies.

20 December, 2002