Six newspapers are being sued for libel and invasion of privacy by Christopher Jefferies, the man arrested in December last year by police investigating the murder of Joanna Yeates in Bristol.
Writs have been issued against the Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Express, Daily Mail and the Glasgow-based Daily Record.
His lawyer, Louis Charalambous, said in a press release issued this afternoon: "Mr Jefferies will be seeking vindication of his reputation for the terrible treatment he received."
Jefferies, who was Yeates's landlord, was released by the police after questioning and eliminated from their inquiries.
Another man who also lived in an apartment at the same address, Vincent Tabak, was subsequently charged with the murder. He is due in court on 4 May for a preliminary hearing. His trial is set for October.
At the time that Jefferies was under arrest I wrote about the press coverage, arguing that it amounted to a character assassination.
The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, also issued a warning to editors that their coverage might amount to a contempt of court. However, no newspaper was prosecuted.
It was Charalambous, of Simons Muirhead & Burton, who represented Robert Murat, the man libelled following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Murat was paid £600,000 in damages by four newspaper groups in July 2008.
Jefferies will not be making any statement about his actions against the newspapers until their conclusion, which, said Charalambous, "he hopes will be in the very near future."
