The identity of a high-profile Queensland man drawn into a Cairns extortion case will remain secret, after the state’s supreme court threw out a legal challenge against a suppression order.
The man – referred to as MM by the court – was drawn into an extortion case earlier this year. He is not a party to the case and is not accused of any offence.
In June, magistrate Gelma Meoli ordered his identity be suppressed to avoid identifying the female alleged extortion victim, known as “the complainant”, after an application by the Queensland police commissioner, Brett Pointing.
Media organisations applied for a judicial review of the decision, arguing that the court did not have the power to suppress his identity.
But Justice James Henry dismissed the challenge on Friday.
The extortion case continues.
