Aruban Judge Orders NBC News Not To Broadcast Jail Cell Video

An Aruban judge ordered NBC News not to broadcast footage from a tour of an Aruban jail that shows Natalee Holloway disappearance suspect Joran van der Sloot. The judge issued the order at the request of van der Sloot’s attorney following a hearing Wednesday night.

“While we respect the court’s decision of this evening, we are considering our next course of legal action,” NBC said in a statement. According to the AP, NBC’s crew “had permission from the warden to fil m inside the jail.”

Rita Cosby played some of the video on Thursday’s “Live & Direct” but didn’t show the suspect. It also aired on this morning’s Today Show. “This whole thing was the first half of Rita Cosby tonight, and in quite a break from the convention of never discussing another network’s coverage, got a lot of attention on Greta, as well,” an e-mailer says.

For a time on Wednesday, NBCers were worried that they would be kicked out of Aruba. Matt Drudge plastered the rumor on his home page. But “no one at NBC did anything wrong,” a tipster says. “No one was kicked off the island. Matt Drudge is the only unethical jounalist in this case. NBC was invited to the prison, got a good interview, was asked not to air video of Joran and complied. End of story.”

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