The following month ITV broadcast a Thames Television documentary Death on the Rock reflecting concerns about the shootings, which led to criticism of the British government. British tabloids attacked the character and credibility of some of the witnesses in an attempt to discredit their statements, which eventually led to successful libel actions by Carmen Proetta against several newspapers, including The Sun and The Sunday Times.
Reviewing this documentary The New York Times (13 June 1989) stated: "Events leading up to the Gibraltar killings are depicted in a reconstruction made for a British television documentary. Questions abound. Was the IRA trio, carefully followed for days, in fact lured into Gibraltar? Why did the police fail to photograph the bodies or gather forensic evidence? Why was the press—Britain's tabloids were jubilant—told lies about a huge car bomb being defused and about the three suspects having died in a gunfight? This documentary's understated observation: 'There was a strong air of Government cover-up and disinformation.'"
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher denounced the documentary as "trial by television".
Read more about this topic: Operation Flavius
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