BRUSSELS, Belgium: A European Union high court on Wednesday denied a German journalist's request for damages after the EU anti-fraud office gave information to law enforcement authorities that led to his detention.
The EU's Court of First Instance said that handing over the information about Hans-Martin Tillack, who was a correspondent for German news weekly Stern, to authorities in Belgium and Germany could not have changed his legal position.
Tillack wrote two articles about alleged EU fraud in 2002, after which the OLAF anti-fraud office launched an inquiry into whether they contained information obtained with payments.
Both Tillack and Stern have denied paying for confidential information.
After receiving details about OLAF's inquiry, Belgian police detained Tillack for several hours in March, and searched his home and office.
The journalist, apart from seeking damages, had asked the EU court to annul OLAF's actions in forwarding the information about him to judicial authorities.
The court denied both requests Wednesday, saying in a statement there was "not a sufficiently direct causal link between the forwarding of the information by OLAF to the Belgian judicial authorities and the damage claimed."
