- Published
An investigation into why the journalist Martin Bashir was rehired in 2016 will be published next week, BBC director general Tim Davie has said.
A recent inquiry by Lord Dyson found the corporation covered up "deceitful behaviour" by Bashir to secure an interview with Princess Diana in 1995.
Mr Davie said there was "no doubt" that rehiring Bashir years after the interview had been a "big mistake".
He added that Bashir was still working out a three-month paid notice period.
Mr Davie said the notice period started the moment he resigned and was almost up.
The BBC rehired Bashir as religion correspondent in late 2016, when questions had already been asked about his conduct surrounding the Panorama interview.
Earlier this month it was confirmed he had stood down as religion editor due to ongoing health issues.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Davie, who took over the BBC's top job in September 2020, said there were three reasons why he had accepted Bashir's resignation, which was offered before he had seen the Dyson report.
"The first was there were very significant medical care issues, which, in terms of Martin Bashir as a staff member, regardless of all the situation around it, is a factor," he said.
"The second is it allowed a clean break with no pay-off, which I thought was in the licence fee-payers' interest to make sure that there was a clean process.
"The third was there was no restraint in us getting to the truth. This was not an honourable discharge," he added.
The inquiry, published last week, found Bashir had faked bank statements designed to suggest Princess Diana was under surveillance - to win the trust of her brother Earl Spencer, and eventually gain access to the princess for the 1995 Panorama interview.
As media interest in the interview increased, the BBC covered up what it had learned about how Bashir secured the interview, the inquiry said.
The Duke of Cambridge said his mother was failed "not just by a rogue reporter" but by BBC bosses.
In the Today interview, Mr Davie was also asked whether the BBC accepted there was a direct line between the forged documents, Bashir's actions and Diana dying - as had been drawn by Earl Spencer.
"I think we fully accept the Dyson report. I think beyond that we are into speculation."
He said he did not have evidence that there was direct line. "It's as simple as that - it's not a question of rejecting it," he added.
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from Via PakapNews