Denis Staunton
in Brussels
Belgian police have raided the Brussels office of the German news magazine Stern, apparently at the request of OLAF, the European Union's anti-fraud agency.
Police called to the home of the magazine's correspondent Hans-Martin Tillack early yesterday morning and took him to his office in Brussels, where they seized boxes of files and documents.
The Brussels prosecutor's office said that the search was ordered by a judge acting on information from OLAF, which is not allowed to make arrests. Tillack, who was still being questioned by police last night, said he was "totally shocked" by the raid.
Tillack has written reports criticising EU institutions and was the first journalist to report on financial irregularities at Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
Two years ago, OLAF released a statement claiming that a leak of information about one of its investigations into alleged wrongdoing at the European Commission might have been paid for.
Tillack complained to the EU ombudsman that the OLAF statement could only have referred to him. The ombudsman backed the journalist and said that OLAF should withdraw its allegation.
Tillack has cited secret documents in a number of reports, including a recent story about irregularities in MEPs' expenses.