Roy Greenslade writes in the Evening Standard today about why he is backing Suzanne Breen, the Sunday Tribune journalist who is in court tomorrow facing demands that she hands over source material linked to stories about the Real IRA.
Breen is adamant that she will not comply with a court order to hand over the source material and could face a jail sentence of up to five years.
Roy says: "It is the latest in a sad saga of attempts by the authorities to cajole reporters into breaking journalism's most sacred obligation that confidential sources must be protected."
He also reveals that he and three other journalists -John Ware of Panorama, Alex Thomson of Channel 4 and the Sunday Times's Liam Clarke - have been asked to give evidence on Suzanne Breen's behalf.
The NUJ is organising demonstrations in Belfast and London to coincide with Breen's court hearing. The protests will be at at 9.15am outside The Laganside Courts, 45 Oxford Street, Belfast, and The Northern Ireland Office, 11 Millbank, London – where a petition containing 5,000 signatures supporting Suzanne Breen's refusal to give up source material will be handed in.
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