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Amnesty calls on Ulster Defence Association to lift death threat against Belfast journalist Amnesty calls on Ulster Defence Association to lift death threat against Belfast journalist
(40 minutes later)
Amnesty International last night called on the Ulster Defence Association to lift a death threat against a Belfast journalist. Amnesty International has called on the Ulster Defence Association to lift a death threat against a Belfast journalist. A terror unit of the UDA in east Belfast is understood to be behind the threat.
A terror unit of the UDA in east Belfast is understood to be behind the threat. The reporter's name and mobile telephone number were painted on walls in a number of locations across the city over the weekend. The Guardian is aware of the journalist's identity but is complying with the National Union of Journalists' decision not to name the individual.
The reporter's name and mobile telephone number were painted on walls in a number of locations across the city over the weekend. Loyalist sources told the Guardian a specific UDA grouping in the east of the city who were recently accused of criminality and drug dealing were responsible for the threat.
The Guardian is aware of the journalist's identity, but is complying with the National Union of Journalists' decision not to name the individual under threat. Amnesty International's director in Northern Ireland, Patrick Corrigan, said: "Such threats are not merely an attack on one journalist, they are an attack on the freedom of the press in Northern Ireland. Guaranteeing freedom of expression must be a cornerstone of Northern Ireland as a peaceful and just society."
Loyalist sources told the Guardian a specific UDA grouping in the east of the city, who were recently accused of criminality and drug dealing, were responsible for the warnings against the reporter. The Ulster Unionist leader and former television journalist Mike Nesbitt called on the UDA to state whether the threat was officially sanctioned and to immediately lift it.
Condemning the threat, Amnesty International's director in Northern Ireland, Patrick Corrigan, said: "All over the world, journalists are arrested, threatened and killed for working in the frontline of defending freedom of expression.
"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. Guaranteeing freedom of expression must be a cornerstone of Northern Ireland as a peaceful and just society."
The Ulster Unionist leader and former television journalist Mike Nesbitt called on the UDA to state whether the threat is officially sanctioned by the organisation and to immediately lift it.
Nesbitt said: "A free press is the cornerstone of any democracy, and any threat to a journalist is totally unacceptable and must be condemned unequivocally. No one is above public scrutiny, and when anyone believes that media reporting becomes inaccurate, misleading or distorted, there are mechanisms in place to seek redress. Threatening murder offers no vision for the future."Nesbitt said: "A free press is the cornerstone of any democracy, and any threat to a journalist is totally unacceptable and must be condemned unequivocally. No one is above public scrutiny, and when anyone believes that media reporting becomes inaccurate, misleading or distorted, there are mechanisms in place to seek redress. Threatening murder offers no vision for the future."
Seamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the NUJ, said the threat, made by telephone on Saturday, was not the first issued to the journalist. Seamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the NUJ, said the threat, made by telephone on Saturday, was not the first issued to the journalist. He said the journalist had been writing about the UDA and he believed this was the reason the person was targeted.
Dooley said the journalist had been writing about the UDA and he believed this was the reason the person was targeted. Despite at one time being the largest paramilitary movement in Northern Ireland, the UDA has been riven with splits and infighting. Its de facto leader, Jackie McDonald, has been a driving force in maintaining the organisation's ceasefire and moving it away from paramilitarism. However, other units of the UDA have refused to recognise his authority and operate independently, often engaging in organised crime ranging from drug-dealing to extortion.
Despite being at one time the largest paramilitary movement in Northern Ireland, the UDA has been riven with splits and faction fighting. Several journalists and reporters have faced death threats from terror groups on both sides of the sectarian divide. In 2001, the Loyalist Volunteer Force shot dead the Sunday World reporter Martin O'Hagan in front of his wife as the couple returned home from a night out in Lurgan, County Armagh. O'Hagan was the first journalist murdered by terrorists in Northern Ireland.
Its de facto leader, Jackie McDonald, has been a driving force in maintaining the organisation's ceasefire and moving it away from paramilitarism. However, other units of the UDA have refused to recognise his authority and operate independently, often engaging in organised crime ranging from drug dealing to extortion. His Sunday World colleague Jim Campbell, the paper's one-time northern editor, was seriously wounded after the Ulster Volunteer Force shot him at his home.
Several journalists and reporters have had to cope with death threats from terror groups on both sides of the sectarian divide. In 2001, the Loyalist Volunteer Force shot dead Sunday World reporter Martin O'Hagan in front of his wife as the couple returned home from a night out in Lurgan, County Armagh. O'Hagan was the first journalist murdered by terrorists in Northern Ireland.
His Sunday World colleague, the paper's one-time northern editor, Jim Campbell, was seriously wounded after the Ulster Volunteer Force shot him at his home.
Despite the peace process, a number of journalists still live under a tight security regime, with CCTV cameras around their homes, alarm buttons positioned in different parts of their houses and drop-bars on their front and back doors.Despite the peace process, a number of journalists still live under a tight security regime, with CCTV cameras around their homes, alarm buttons positioned in different parts of their houses and drop-bars on their front and back doors.