Northern Ireland: 25 years after journalist Martin O’Hagan was murdered, CPJ and Amnesty call for new investigation

London, September 28, 2026—A quarter of a century after journalist Martin O’Hagan was shot dead in Northern Ireland, his family is still waiting for justice. On the anniversary of his death, CPJ and Amnesty International UK are calling for a fresh investigation, and for the immediate publication of a long delayed Ombudsman’s report into police handling of the case.  

O’Hagan, a 51-year-old investigative journalist who worked in the Belfast office of the Dublin newspaper Sunday World, was shot dead in Lurgan, County Armagh on September 28, 2001, by members of a loyalist paramilitary group.

To date, no one has been held accountable for the murder, creating an environment of impunity which encourages further attacks and has a chilling effect on journalists in Northern Ireland, which remains the most dangerous place to be a journalist in the United Kingdom. 

“It’s shameful that 25 years have passed and we are still waiting for justice for Martin O’Hagan. He was killed to silence his reporting on paramilitary crime, and the failure to punish his killers is not only crushing for those who knew him, but also fuels the unacceptable level of threat and violence which journalists in Northern Ireland continue to face today,” said Fiona O’Brien, CPJ’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

“Impunity emboldens those who attack journalists, encourages journalists to self-censor, and ultimately robs the public of vital information on crime, corruption and other abuses of power. After 25 years, we are tired of excuses. We therefore renew our call for a fresh investigation into Martin O’Hagan’s death, and for transparency from the Police Ombudsman as to how police originally handled the case.”

In September 2013, Northern Ireland’s director of public prosecutions called on the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) to investigate the police handling of the case. 

Amnesty International said PONI confirmed to them that they are still “not in a position to provide specific timeframes” for publication of their investigation.

“Thirteen years after the Police Ombudsman was tasked with reviewing the police’s handling of this case, we are calling for the immediate publication of their findings. We now need an urgent, independent investigation into the assassination itself to finally bring Martin O’Hagan’s killers to justice and end 25 years of impunity,” said Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s head of nations and regions.

Niall Murphy, the lawyer for Martin’s brother Fintan O’Hagan, said the delay in publication of the Ombudsman’s report “represents a continuing trauma of justice delayed constituting justice denied” for the family.

“Our clients’ very serious concerns as to the failure by police to secure the convictions of those who carried out Martin’s brutal murder, are aggravated in this context. Their long-standing concerns that state agents may have been protected from prosecution are deepened when faced by the failure to publish this report,” Murphy said.

The Red Hand Defenders, which police consider a cover name for Protestant militants from the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and the Ulster Defence Association, claimed responsibility for the killing and police identified the LVF as a primary suspect.

In 2008, four men allegedly connected to the LVF were charged with the murder, but in 2010 the prosecution withdrew those charges citing problems with the credibility of a witness.

On March 1, 2022, the BBC’s Spotlight program quoted unnamed security sources saying that police were given names of people said to have been involved in the killing within 48 hours of O’Hagan’s murder, but did not act on the information. Following the program, a statement by the National Union of Journalists called for an independent international investigation into the killing.

Read the full joint statement from Amnesty International and CPJ here.