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The Sun Paris

'The Sun's investigation into Europe's weak border controls 'was made up'

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By Tony Connelly, Sports Marketing Reporter

December 7, 2015 | 3 min read

The Sun's investigation which attempted to expose the lack of security at Europe’s border controls has been called into question after the Croatian Interior Ministry claimed parts of the story were fabricated.

The Sun investigator found to be lying

In an article titled ‘a damning exposure of Europe’s lax borders’, Sun investigator, Emile Ghessen, says he smuggled himself some 2,000 miles from Turkey to Paris without ever having to show his passport.

The Sun investigation

The purpose of the story was to highlight the apparent ease of which the Paris terrorist attackers were able to make their way across Europe and carry out the attacks without being caught at any border control points.

However, the Croatian Interior Ministry accused Ghessen of making up parts of the story and published a scan of his passport that it said it made during border checks.

Passport photo of Emile Ghessen

In his article, Ghessen discusses how he was able to easily evade border officers on a train journey to Zagreb saying: “The police never checked the toilet. Four hours later I was in Zagreb and spent the night in a hostel."

The Croatian Interior Ministry took issue Ghessen’s assertions that he never had to show his passport and released a statement which read: "Police Directorate denies part of the article published on the website of the British newspaper The Sun, which claims that a journalist managed to pass through Croatia without being checked by the Croatian border police.

"In fact, Croatian border police registered Emile Pierre Ghessen on 23 November at 2.10 pm at the Tovarnik railway border crossing where he entered the Republic of Croatia, and on 24 November at 5.20 pm at the Zagreb Airport border crossing, where he exited the Republic of Croatia."

A spokesman for The Sun said it was “currently investigating concerns that have been raised about this story.

"The journalist concerned is not a member of The Sun's staff but a freelance documentary maker, whose work has been used by national broadcasters, newspapers and websites."

The story, which was published on page 26 of The Sun on Saturday 5 December, has since been removed from The Sun’s website.

Facebook and Twitter accounts thought to belong to Ghessen have been closed.

The Sun Paris

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