Amnesty calls for death threat to be lifted

Amnesty International has condemned a death threat made against a Northern Ireland journalist, reportedly made by “criminal elements”, and called for the threat to be lifted immediately.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has reported the death threat against the Belfast-based journalist. The union said that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has warned the journalist of “an immediate risk of attack by criminal elements” which amounted to a threat to life.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme Director, said:

“Amnesty International condemns this reported death threat against a journalist and calls for the threat to be lifted immediately. Such threats are not merely an attack on one journalist, they are an attack on the freedom of the press in Northern Ireland.

“All over the world, journalists are arrested, threatened and killed for working in the frontline of defending freedom of expression.

“Guaranteeing freedom of expression must be a cornerstone of Northern Ireland as a peaceful and just society.”

Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan was shot dead in Northern Ireland in September 2001 by the loyalist paramilitary group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force.