THE NATIONAL Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland yesterday condemned an attempt by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Durham Constabulary to silence two journalists.
In an extraordinary move the police yesterday made an attempt to silence investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, but they were thwarted by the NUJ’s lawyer.
They were told that they are forbidden to comment on their ‘case while on police bail’.
The two are the makers of the award-winning documentary No Stone Unturned.
They have been on pre-charge bail since their arrest in August 2018 in connection with the documentary about the Loughinisland massacre. Yesterday, their bail was extended until September 2019.
The Loughinisland massacre took place on 18 June 1994 in the small village of Loughinisland, County Down, Northern Ireland. Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, burst into a pub with assault rifles and fired on the customers, killing six civilians and wounding five.
The pub was targeted because it was frequented mainly by Catholics, and was crowded with people watching the Republic of Ireland team playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
It is sometimes referred to as the ‘World Cup massacre.’
