Journalists from Northern Ireland and the Republic are to mount a protest outside Antrim Court today in support of the Northern Editor of the Sunday Tribune, Mr Ed Moloney.
Mr Moloney has been instructed to appear for failing to comply with a court order requesting he hand over notes of conversations he had with Mr William Stobie, who has been charged with the murder of the Belfast solicitor, Mr Pat Finucane, but has pleaded not guilty.
Members of the National Union of Journalists will protest in support of a journalist's right to protect sources, which is a part of the NUJ code of conduct.
Mr Moloney has refused to hand over the documentation to the reopened Stevens investigation into the 1989 killing, which is also examining allegations of RUC collusion in the incident.
The NUJ said yesterday that lawyers for Mr Moloney will today seek to have the order quashed. As part of the argument they will submit statements from a number of journalists confirming that they would act in the same manner as Mr Moloney if ordered to breach their professional code on the protection of sources.
The NUJ general secretary, Mr John Foster, intends to tell the court that there is no alternative for a journalist. "A journalist's reputation and livelihood depend on his/her commitment to protecting their sources. To do otherwise would be to undermine the pursuit of truth and the principle of free media which is central to a true democracy," he said.
Mr Eoin Ronayne, the NUJ Irish secretary, will also attend the court to warn that the Stevens team, by making the order, was trying to enforce state control over the rights of the press.
Mr Stobie, a former member of the UFF, has claimed he was a Special Branch informer when Mr Finucane was killed and informed his police handlers before the killing that someone was to be targeted, although he was unsure of who it was going to be.
If Mr Moloney fails to have the court order dismissed today he will have seven days to hand over the notes, otherwise he faces an unlimited fine and/or between six months' and five years' imprisonment.