WESTMINSTER MPs have submitted a motion calling on the PSNI to return all materials seized in an abandoned probe into two journalists over a documentary on the Loughinisland massacre.
The politicians urged police to demonstrate the sincerity of an apology by the Chief Constable "by bringing to an end this shameful episode".
They also pressed officers to act on information contained in the award-winning film No Stone Unturned "to ensure that justice is delivered for the families of the Loughinisland victims".
The Early Day Motion was tabled by Labour MPs including John McDonnell and has been supported by others such as Chris Stephens of the SNP and the SDLP's Claire Hanna.
Last week, Chief Constable Simon Byrne wrote to journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey to apologise after the Court of Appeal quashed a search warrant used to raid their homes and offices in August 2018.
They were arrested over the alleged theft of a Police Ombudsman document that appeared in their film on the loyalist massacre in Loughinisland.
Six men were shot dead while watching football in a pub in the Co Down village in summer 1994.
Last year judges ruled that search warrants used by police had been "inappropriate", resulting in the criminal probe into the film-makers being dropped.
Earlier this month, senior judges said the conduct of the hearing to obtain the search warrant fell "woefully short" of the standard required to ensure that it was fair.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said the journalists had at all times acted as investigative reporters adhering to their professional code.
"We see no overriding requirement in the public interest which could have justified an interference with the protection of journalistic sources in this case," he said.
In their motion to parliament, MPs welcomed the ruling and the PSNI's unreserved apology.
The motion also "notes that the PSNI still retains a vast amount of journalistic material despite the issue of the court order".
It calls on the Chief Constable to "demonstrate the sincerity of the apology by bringing to an end this shameful episode by arranging the immediate return of all material seized or copied".
Mr McCaffrey welcomed the motion on Twitter, expressing his thanks to "all of the politicians across [the] divide who have supported our defence of press freedom".
In the discontinued probe over the ombudsman document, the PSNI had asked Durham Constabulary to direct the raids in August 2018 to avoid a conflict of interest.
Issuing an "unreserved apology" last week, Mr Byrne said he fully accepted the ruling of the Lord Chief Justices that the search warrants were unlawful.
He said the PSNI would review the judgment "to ensure that all appropriate learning is taken".
