Ireland: Defamation Lawsuit Against Dublin Inquirer’s Journalists Is A Waste Of Time And Resources
Location: Ireland, Dublin
Date: October 23, 2020
On August 31, Dublin Inquirer’s co-founder Sam Tranum and its reporter Laoise Neylon were served with summons about a defamation lawsuit filed against them for an article published on 26 August, which reported on an eviction that had taken place in Glasnevin the previous week.
Reporter Laoise Neylon had written about illegal eviction in Glasnevin and mentioned that the landlord was a friend of Ben Gilroy, a political activist and anti-eviction campaigner and therefore had not stopped the eviction. Dublin Inquirer attempted to contact Gilroy for comment before publication however they went ahead with the piece when they didn’t hear back.
Ben Gilroy then contacted the newspaper and said he was not happy with the news but he did not deny being on the eviction site. He then posted on his personal Facebook page denouncing the Dublin Inquirer’s article followed by another Facebook post on August 28 announcing he had filed a lawsuit against the newspaper and the reporter.
In a statement issued by ECPMF, the lawsuit was described as SLAPP ( Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) - these are lawsuits that are misused to silence and harass critics by forcing them to use resources (financial, time) to defend themselves against unfounded lawsuits. Those who file SLAPP lawsuits do not go to court for justice. Such lawsuits are intended to intimidate those who disagree with their actions.
“The SLAPP that the Dublin Inquirer is facing is just one example of a phenomenon that has become widespread in Europe in recent years: at the time of her death in 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had 47 vexatious lawsuits filed against her. This year, the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists has recorded SLAPPs in Belgium, Malta, France, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania – and we have reason to believe that these are just the tip of the iceberg.” said ECPMF in the letter addressed to Irish Minister for Justice.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented a similar case of SLAPP earlier this month in Slovenia. News portal Necenzurirano.si’s managers are facing a total of 39 law cases initiated against them due to “defamation” of a famous tax expert who is known to have ties to the government. CFWIJ asks the lawsuit to be dropped and freedom of the press is guaranteed in Ireland and all around the world. We ask judiciary organs in EU member states to discourage misuse of legal remedies as they pose a threat to freedom of expression.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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