Journalists carrying out “unwanted” investigations will have been monitored by British police and kept secret for six months. “Today’s evidence is explosive,” they say.
The National Union of Journalists of Northern Ireland (NUJ) has accused the country’s police service (PSNI) of “shocking and despicable” behavior towards journalists. This is because the police anonymously monitored journalists carrying out unwanted investigations into the police force.
The episode of surveillance of journalists occurred for six consecutive months and targeted Northern Irish investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, who were monitored by the police and secret services of the United Kingdom who sought to identify their sources, according to The Guardian. .
Ian McGuinness, coordinator of the NUJ, who participated this Wednesday in a hearing at the Court of Inquiry (IPT) in London, expressed his concern about the conclusions presented by the court. “It is the type of behavior we would expect in an authoritarian state. and not in a modern democracy,” argued McGuinness, quoted by The Guardian.
“Journalists exist to hold power to account and that includes writing stories about the PSNI that power may not like. Writing a story about the PSNI and protecting your confidential sources is not a crime. oh NUJ asks, once again, that the PSNI confess everything,” added the coordinator.
When it emerged that the Police Service of Northern Ireland regularly spied on journalists, NUJ Irish organizer Ian McGuinness said: “This is shocking and despicable behavior by the PSNI. It’s the kind of behavior we would expect in an authoritarian state and… https://t.co/Ik4KCvCqMi
— NUJ (@NUJofficial) May 8, 2024
McGuinness also asked the PSNI to show “when it began spying on various journalists’ phone data” and “how many times each journalist was spied on”, ensuring that the police force “You must commit to stopping doing it again.”
Amnesty International was also concerned about these recent revelations, which, through Patrick Corrigan, director of the program for Northern Ireland, denounced “regional espionage operations” against journalists. “Today’s evidence is explosive”he added.
“This is a chilling revelation that only emerged after lengthy court proceedings. The fact that such clearly illegal acts appear to have been custom and practice within the PSNI would demonstrate a complete disregard for the principle of press freedom. There must now be full accountability,” Corrigan urged.
Source: Observadora
