Published on 11 May 2009
23 June 2009 - Belfast court ruling “a victory for press freedom”
3 August 2007 - London appeal court quashes judge’s gagging order
25 May 2007 - Right to information threatened by parliamentary bill
Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns an attempt by the Northern Ireland police to obtain a court order in Belfast that would force Suzanne Breen, the Belfast editor of the Dublin-based Sunday Tribune newspaper, to hand over all her source material about the Real IRA, an Irish Republican Army splinter group.
“Journalists are neither police auxiliaries nor criminals,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The confidentiality of sources is a cornerstone of investigative journalism and must be protected and guaranteed. It is legitimate to combat terrorism using all appropriate methods, but they must not threaten the confidentiality of journalists’ investigations, especially when sensitive issues are involved.
“We must also point out that, by forcing journalists to reveal their sources, the authorities may put them in danger and expose them to reprisals,” the press freedom organisation said.
“We also condemn the attempt by the Northern Ireland authorities to have this case heard behind closed doors and for Breen to be questioned without her lawyers being present,” Reporters Without Borders added. “Such methods are unworthy of a democracy and set a regrettable example which could be used by undemocratic regimes to justify their own repressive policies regarding press freedom.”
He is the editor of Erk, the last opposition newspaper in Uzbekistan until it was banned by the authorities in 1993, and he was jailed on 18 August 1999 in the wave of repression after the failed assassination attempt on President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on 16 February 1999.
