MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The German Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, that published last week the so-called Panama Papers leak that allegedly exposed offshore financial activities of some of the world's most influential people, refused to hand over the papers to German authorities, citing an intention to protect the source, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung chief editor said Friday.
According to Wolfgang Krach, the newspaper’s source fears for his life now after the alleged documents have been published.
"If we stop protecting our informants, it will be the end of the investigative journalism. Then there will be no second part of the Panama papers," Wolfgang Krach said, speaking on the ZDF channel.
Mossack Fonseca has refused to validate the information contained in the leaks and accused reporters of gaining unauthorized access to its proprietary documents. The Panamian company warned that using unlawfully-obtained data was a crime that it would not hesitate to punish by legal means.
