Sunday Night intro omits the words “alleged”

“At 40,000 feet and 3 hours after take-off, her faith in Malaysian Airlines was shattered when she was sexually assaulted by that same man. Twice,” said Chris Bath.

Sunday Night‘s story on a woman who has alleged sexual assault on board a Paris-bound Malaysian Airlines flight included compelling footage, which Seven promoted as a world exclusive. Laura Bushney’s footage of chief steward Mohd Rosli Bin Ab Karim was hard to ignore, and as current affairs stories go, was surely ‘a good get.’

Mohd Rosli Bin Ab Karim was taken into custody by French authorities and is under investigation, while the airline is co-operating with police.

But why did Chris Bath leave out the word “alleged” in her introduction given the case has not been tried? At this stage it appears he hasn’t been charged by French authorities.

Sunday Night Executive Producer Mark Llewellyn told TV Tonight, “The man himself has made admissions to the French police and in the material on-camera.”

The footage is uncomfortable viewing with the man pleading that he was trying to make Ms. Bushney relaxed. It’s a pretty feeble argument given the look on his face. If Ms. Bushney’s allegations are proven true it is a heinous act.

But as Sunday Night‘s own website tells us, these are still allegations -a point that should have been made in its introduction. Instead we were told of the alleged perpetrator, “….she was sexually assaulted by that same man. Twice.”

Given the case will not be tried in Australian jurisdiction, Sunday Night was also able to screen the footage, which it could not have done if it were tried in Australia.

In July Sunday Night aired footage related to the Oscar Pistorius case in South Africa while the trial was still underway, including with a viewer poll asking,  “Did Oscar Pistorius deliberately kill his girlfriend?”