In the early hours of last Thursday, armed police arrived at the Belfast house of Liam Clarke, the Sunday Times’s Northern Ireland editor, and his wife, Kathy. They seized four computers, children’s games, old newspapers and written material. Liam’s and Kathy’s eight-year-old daughter was in the house. Police smashed the door to Mr Clarke’s office, though a key could have been produced. Kathy and Liam were arrested. On arrival at the police station, Liam was not allowed to make a telephone call which a sheet of paper informed him was his right. Liam and Kathy were held for 23 hours. No one has explained to them why it was thought necessary to raid the house of two law-abiding journalists in the middle of the night, or why the police behaved as though Liam and Kathy were a couple of dangerous hoods.
What is going on? The previous day newspapers had published transcripts from the new paperback edition of Liam’s and Kathy’s biography of Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator and a former IRA chief of staff.
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