Iran official: Civil liberties gravely violated in West

Recognized civil liberties are seriously breached in Britain and the United States through full-scale surveillance of people's activities, Head of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said, Press TV reported with reference to Mehr News Agency.

Extensive police control is rampant in the United Kingdom and the US, he told.

Turning to widespread phone hacking in Britain and the death of Sean Hoare, the reporter who blew the whistle on the scandal, Boroujerdi accused Washington and London of telling lies to the international community.

The public opinion is instigated in the US as a result of such lies, he pointed out.

Sean Hoare was found on July 18 at his home in Watford, north of London.

"At 10:40 a.m. today, police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street," Hertfordshire police said.

Hoare said in interviews last year with The New York Times and the state-run BBC that phone-hacking was widely used and even encouraged at the News of the World and former editor Andy Coulson knew about voicemail hacking and had asked him to snoop on phone messages.

The scandal over hacking the phones of ordinary citizens has rocked the entire British establishment with senior politicians admitting that 'the pillars of the establishment are tumbling.'

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is involved in the UK phone hacking scandal.


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