Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers send concerns notice to producers of Silenced
Lawyers for former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann have sent a statement of concern to the producers of Silenced, a documentary about the story of Brittany Higgins that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
His lawyer, Zali Burrows, sent the notice to the documentary’s producers amid Mr. Lehrmann’s latest push to overturn his damaging legal loss against Network 10 in the Supreme Court.
In the announcement seen by NewsWire, Ms Burrows demanded a copy of the film, a transcript and the removal of all promotional materials.
Ms Burrows said the notice was to “protect Lehrmann’s right to a fair trial” and claimed the film “harmed the jury pool” in relation to separate criminal trials in Queensland.
He faces two rape charges over an alleged incident in Toowoomba in October 2021, which he denies.
“Your purported documentary film should be viewed worldwide as an accurate, non-fiction and factual report of the issues raised by the film’s synopsis, interviews and trailer, namely that Mr. Lehrmann has brought libel proceedings against Ms. Higgins to silence her from publicly disclosing the events surrounding an alleged rape that occurred in the Houses of Parliament in 2019,” he said.
Mr Lehrmann asked for permission to appeal to the High Court to set aside his legal losses to Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
He launched a libel lawsuit against Ten and Ms Wilkinson over an interview with The Project in which Ms Higgins claimed she was raped by a colleague in Parliament House in March 2019.
In a now groundbreaking decision, Judge Michael Lee dismissed the case and found on the balance of probabilities that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office.
But Ms. Burrows said Mr. Lehrmann continued to maintain his innocence.
According to Ms. Burrows, the film alleges that Mr. Lehrmann weaponized libel lawsuits against victims.
“We ask that you review and consider the findings of the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Western Australia. We believe that you have done fair reporting and conveyed the negative findings made by these courts to Ms Higgins in your film Silenced.”
Ms. Burrows claims the film supports the narrative that Mr. Lehrmann used libel lawsuits to silence Ms. Higgins.
“This is clearly and objectively false, particularly where Mr Lehrmann has not brought any defamation proceedings against Ms Higgins for her interview on the Project and many other comments Ms Higgins made about him on social media, and the associated legal proceedings, including in Queensland,” he said.
Former political staffers and Ms Burrows say the publication of press interviews and articles about the film would undermine Mr Lehrmann’s fair trial in Queensland.
They also claim the film includes interviews with Ms Higgins, dialogue with human rights lawyer and barrister Jennifer Robinson and reports of Mr Lehrmann’s damaging legal proceedings in the Canberra case.
The film also makes defamatory allegations against Mr. Lehrmann, and he was never contacted for a right of reply during production, Ms. Burrows alleges.
The film focuses on the work of Jennifer Robinson and women’s experiences in the legal system.
