Sunday, 13 June 2010
Bloody Sunday - Prosecutions?
The report on the Bloody Sunday shootings of 1972 will be read to Parliament tomorrow. The inquiry has lasted for years and has cost millions of pounds - mostly in lawyers' fees. Has it been worth it? While the relatives of the 14 people shot dead understandably want justice, will justice be served by (possibly) jailing ex-soldiers nearly 40 years after the event? After all, both Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries guilty of crimes during the Troubles have been released. What views do we have?
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I hope we can draw a line under the matter after all this time and £192 Million. I just hope that it is received in the right way otherwise it would have been a waste of time and a lot of money !
ReplyDeleteI can't disagree with the previous comment, although it won't be received in the right way if it can be construed as a whitewash, so I hope it's thorough and fair (it should be, after all this time). I'll say more, perhaps, when we know what it says.
ReplyDeleteI made a mistake. The Saville Inquiry's findings are made public tomorrow. It looks as if a lot of people will be very unhappy, whatever the findings.
ReplyDeleteWell, it wasn't a whitewash and it confirmed what many of us suspected for years, i.e. that British troops lost control and killed innocent British citizens on the streets of a British city. There will be recriminations, I suspect, from people who lost loved ones to terrorists (whether Loyalist or Republican) and don't find this kind of closure available to them. I suspect Martin McGuinness is correct when he says that a fault in the peace process is the lack of any way of dealing with the past. That is probably an issue that can't be avoided any longer.
ReplyDeleteDid they need all this time with its consequent expense? I don't know whether or not we could have got the same report more cheaply or more quickly. Had one of my loved ones been involved, I know I would have considered the tribunal completely necessary. Let's hope its publication may prevent anything similar happening in future.
Was it worth it? For those who say 'no', I'd just point out that if the original Widgery Tribunal had done its job properly, there'd have been no need for the Saville Tribunal at all.
Commenting as one who has always supported the pursuit of Nazi war criminals, it would be hypocritical of me to oppose the prosecution of any ex-paras who opened fire indiscriminately. However, those prosecutions would be difficult, because the lawyers of the men concerned would argue that it is now impossible for their clients to receive a fair trial.
ReplyDeleteI think very serious consideration should be given to murder trials. Since Bloody Sunday the soldiers have lived their lives, unlike their innocent victims. I'm the same age as the youngest to die on that day, and when I think of everything I've done since 1972, it brings the tragedy of all those lost years home to me.
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