# Donaldson trial to begin: Attorney General warns public of contempt laws Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beltel-5373912/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-contempt-laws Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beltel-5373912/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-contempt-laws.md Podcast: [The BelTel](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beltel-5373912) Published: 2026-05-21T15:39:58+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-beltel/episodes/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-co Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/65670352d7b5d40012be7324/e/6a0f1e3680978431daa20d88/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-beltel-5373912/episodes/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-contempt-laws Duration seconds: 1448 ## Resource The trial of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson and the trial of the facts of his wife, Eleanor Donaldson, will be heard together.   Eleanor Donaldson, who had faced charges of aiding and abetting which she strenously denies, has been declared unfit to stand trial. Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences, including one count of rape, as well as allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency spanning a time period between 1985 and 2008, with two alleged victims.   The former DUP leader’s trial and the trial of the facts will begin on Tuesday. The Attorney General has issued advice on commenting on legal cases.   What is a trial of the facts, can you comment online about the case, and what can we expect next week?   Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Editor Sam McBride.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-beltel-5373912/episodes/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-contempt-laws/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-beltel-5373912/donaldson-trial-to-begin-attorney-general-warns-public-of-contempt-laws.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.