News Corporation's so-called "exclusive" MH17 crash footage smuggled out of a Ukrainian rebel base was broadcast a year ago by the BBC, the broadcaster's Australian correspondent says.
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News Corporation articles claimed the 17-minute footage as a "world exclusive" in the Daily Telegraph and The Australian, saying it was smuggled out of the rebels' base in the east Ukraine city of Donetsk.
But the BBC's Australia correspondent, Jon Donnison, disputes this claim.
Looking forward to apology from @dailytelegraph & @australian over their #MH17 video "world exclusive" that was broadcast a year ago on BBC.— Jon Donnison (@jondonnisonbbc) July 17, 2015
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine last year, killing 38 Australians among the 298 passengers and crew.
News Corporation claims it took a 12-month pursuit to obtain the video of Russia-backed rebels picking through the luggage of the dead.
In a second tweet, Donnison wrote that the footage is cut differently.
@AndrewBGreene It is the same footage. just cut in different way and BBC didnt broadcast all of it.— Jon Donnison (@jondonnisonbbc) July 17, 2015
The footage has also been shown on CNN.
A BBC news report disputing the News Corporation claim said a fragment of the same footage could be seen with a BBC logo on it on YouTube, but the link has been removed.
A spokesman for the international Joint Investigation Team conducting the criminal investigation into the MH17 crash told Fairfax that it had already seen parts of the video published by News Corporation, but not all of it.
"(The) video images ... which have been made public by the Australian News Corp, were not fully in possession of the joint investigation team which is investigating the cause of the crash," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
"Parts of the video material were already available on the internet.
"A large quantity of video's and photo images is already included in the investigation file on the cause of the plane disaster.
The new material consisting of both images and audio material is being investigated in order to determine the authenticity and relevance for the criminal investigation."
News Corporation has been contacted for comment.
With Nick Miller
