ICTU backs Moloney
INEZ McCORMACK, President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has welcomed the successful application for judicial review by the Sunday Tribune's Northern editor, Ed Moloney, who faces jail for refusing to hand over interview notes with loyalist and RUC informer William Stobie to the RUC.
Stobie, who is charged in relation to the 1989 killing of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, told Moloney of his involvement in the killing in 1990. It is Moloney's record of this interview that the RUC want. However, the story is an embarrassment for the RUC as Stobie was a Special Branch informer at the time and had informed his handlers about his part in the killing at the time.
In a statement, Inez McCormack said:
``This is part of a long and difficult battle. This is a struggle for the basic human right of the freedom of speech and the protection of workers who are journalists against unfair pressure.''
On Tuesday, 14 September, however, High Court Judge Kerr gave Moloney until Friday, 17 September to hand over the notes.
Meanwhile, BBC journalist Fergal Parkinson has warned other reporters after he was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act by Special Branch members at Heathrow Airport.
Parkinson claims a Branch officer - who refused to give his name - questioned him about where he had visited, who he had interviewed and what his political views were.
British police have told Parkinson that his complaint and those of the BBC and National Union of Journalists are certain to come to nothing as the officer involved was a member of the Special Branch.
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