The BBC Asks Its Former Broadcasting Who Is Entangled In A Child Pornography Case To Return A Salary Of IDR 4 Billion

UNSPLASH/Drew ILLUSTRATION Bae

JAKARTA - BBC UK asked Huw Edwards, the former BBC news anchor, to return the pay he paid after his arrest.

Edwards was the highest-paid BBC journalist and leading news presenter until he quit in April, receiving an annual salary of up to 479,999 pounds (611,758 US dollars or equivalent to Rp9.7 billion), according to his annual report.

He hasn't appeared on the screen since last July following the case of him paying a teenager for child porn photos/videos.

The BBC board, funded by costs paid by television viewers, said it had authorized broadcaster management to request a refund Edwards had paid between his arrest and his resignation, at around 200,000 pounds, equivalent to IDR 4 billion.

"Edwards merasa bersalah atas kejahatan yang menerapkan," kata dewan tersebut pada Jumat, 8 Agustus dilansir Reuters.

"Had he been honest when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay for him with public money. He clearly undermined trust in the BBC and humiliated us."

The BBC said it was aware of the arrests but was not aware of Edwards' charges.

The council said it supported the BBC's management's handling of the matter given the knowledge they had at the time. The council also said it would conduct an independent review to strengthen workplace culture.

"BBC is a very valuable and important player in the landscape of public broadcasting services that reaches millions of people every day and is very important for the public to have full trust and confidence in the organization and how the organization is run," said Culture Minister Lisa Nandy.