TWO investigative journalists called for answers today ahead of a tribunal hearing over allegations that they were subject to covert surveillance by British authorities.

Senior legal figures sitting on the Investigatory Powers Tribunal are hearing a case at the Royal Courts of Justice in London brought by Northern Ireland-based filmmakers Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney.

In 2018, Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were controversially arrested as part of a police investigation into the alleged leaking of a confidential document that appeared in their documentary No Stone Unturned, about a Troubles massacre in Loughinisland, Co Down.

An investigation by Durham Police eventually led to former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Simon Byrne issuing an apology for the way the men had been treated and the service agreeing to pay £875,000 in damages.

In 2019, Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey lodged a complaint with the tribunal, seeking to establish whether they had been subject to any unlawful surveillance.

Outside the court Mr McCaffrey said: “Journalism isn’t a crime. Journalists shouldn’t be treated as criminals or as criminal suspects, and if that is the case, UK police have an awful lot to answer for.”

The respondents in the two-day case include the PSNI, Durham Police, MI5 and GCHQ in Cheltenham.