The BBC has stoked anger again over its coverage of the Ghislaine Maxwell conviction by interviewing her brother in a prominent slot on the Radio 4 Today programme and then on BBC news.
Ian Maxwell, 65, was given a platform for five minutes on the show, during which he discussed plans to appeal against the decision to find his sister guilty of sex trafficking.
While much of Ian Maxwell’s contribution was paraphrased, he could be heard to say: “I’m not saying that [the victims] are lying, it may well be that they were victims of Jeffrey Epstein, but I do not accept that they were victims of Ghislaine. That’s my position and that’s also her position.”
LibDem peer Meral Hussein-Ece added: “#GhislaineMaxwell’s brother is given a platform on #r4today to proclaim his sisters innocence- incredibly based on no evidence other than ‘my own view’.
“Trying to recall last time the defenders of anyone convicted of a serious crime were offered such an opportunity on BBC News.”
It comes as the BBC says an interview with lawyer Alan Dershowitz after the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell did not meet its editorial standards.
Maxwell was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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Related: People in shock over BBC’s choice of interviewee following Maxwell verdict