Sir, We are gravely concerned that Greater Manchester Police is attempting to use counter-terrorism legislation to force a journalist to reveal all confidential source material from a book he is currently writing.

This legal action poses a serious risk to the future of investigative journalism. The journalist in question, Shiv Malik, is well regarded for his investigative work on terrorist organisations, which has won him praise from Jonathan Evans, the Director-General of MI5.

Journalism like Malik’s is only possible because people are willing to speak out to reporters privately and in confidence. We believe that the police’s attempt to obtain Malik’s materials threatens the future of all publications that seek to expose terrorist organisations to public scrutiny and that if requests like this become routine under counter-terrorism legislation, it would have major implications for media freedom in this country.

It is particularly worrying that the police are putting these vital functions of an open society in jeopardy over a case in which the key source has chosen not to hide his identity and has offered to speak openly to the authorities.

We urge the police to recognise the widely accepted special status of journalists’ materials and to withdraw their legal action immediately.

Jonathan Dimbleby
Chairman, Index on Censorship

Jonathan Freedland
Trustee, Index on Censorship

Shami Chakrabarti
Director, Liberty

Andrew Gilligan

Roy Greenslade

Peter Wilby

David Hencke

David Goodhart
Editor, Prospect Magazine

Martin Bright

Dominic Ponsford
Editor, Press Gazette

Aidan White
General Secretary, International Federation of Journalists

William Horsley
Chairman, Association of European Journalists UK

Jeremy Dear
General Secretary, NUJ

Richard Watson

Meirion Jones
Senior Producer, Newsnight

Jonathan Heawood
Director, English Pen

Jo Glanville
Editor, Index on Censorship

Explore Letters

• Feedback