Condemnation as journalist and SDLP politician sent bullet in the post

UNITED KINGDOM

07 Jan 2013

Journalist Casualties: 0
Media Staff Casualties: 0
Under Investigation: 0

There has been widespread condemnation after a journalist and an SDLP politician in Northern Ireland were both sent a bullet in the post.

A 9mm bullet and a sympathy card intended for SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone were intercepted by the Royal Mail at a sorting office in Antrim over the weekend. The sympathy card contained McGlone’s name and photograph.

McGlone said the people who had sent the package were “faceless fascists”.

“This is obviously not something that is a pleasant experience, for me or my family; however, those who sent it will not put me off doing my job – that is representing the people of Mid Ulster,” he said.

A number of other elected representatives across Northern Ireland have had similar threats and attacks on homes and offices in recent weeks as tensions and violence have increased over the flying of the Union flag on government buildings.

Separately, the PSNI intercepted a letter containing a bullet which was addressed to a Belfast-based journalist at the weekend. The journalist, who has not been identified, had been reporting on loyalist rioting in Belfast.

The president of the National Union of Journalists said the letter was the “latest in a series of despicable attempts to intimidate journalists in Northern Ireland”. In a statement, Barry McCall said:

"This is a despicable attempt to intimidate journalists working in extremely difficult circumstances. The posting of a bullet to a newspaper, addressed to a named journalist, represents an attack on journalism and democracy."

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Source: TheJournal.ie