Bloody Sunday prosecution

[Somerville]

Only one man will be prosecuted for murdering civilians at the Bloody Sunday civil rights march.

The long-delayed inquiry found that all the killings were unjustified, that every adult and child who was killed had been unarmed, and that no warnings were gven before soldiers opened fire.

British justice at it's finest, eh?

It's about time that these paras were tried for murder. Shooting unarmed civilians is murder.

I am ashamed at the British Forces and the UK media. Heavy coverage was given to IRA atrocities, very little to other paramilitary atrocities. Nor were we, in England at least, taught the history of Ireland or even the Troubles in school.

The situation in Northern Ireland seems to have been whitewashed in the UK and I feel very angry about that. It has led to massive ignorance of the intricacies of what seems to have been, to all intents and purposes, a civil war.

The way Catholics were treated in NI was abhorrent, and makes me ashamed to be English. I honestly do not know anyone who thinks NI Catholics are somehow "less". That doesnt make up for the times people have been treated that way though.

for all.

@Lllot5

I don’t support this prosecution. We were at war and British soldiers acted accordingly

14 unarmed people were shot dead. This included CHILDREN.

What the hell is wrong with you????

Well I could manage F's defence case: All these witnesses now dead. All these other witnesses too old to remember. Political pressure, comments by various people. Fair Trial? Proved Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Members of the Jury, etc.

Not Guilty. Next case.

This is not the way to go. NI needs a Truth and Reconcilliation process, starting with the likes of Adams and Kelly coming clean, along with the release of all relevant HMG files, such as the ordering of the Widgery cover-up, etc.

imiss oh dear god get over your fucking self will you.

I know people who were killed during the Troubles. Am I arrogant enough to assume that that means I have the faintest idea how it felt/feels to be an Irish Catholic in NI? No, I'm not.

You would appear to be confusing empathy with civilians for being terrorist sympathisers, and you also seem to be misunderstanding that for some, it was the army they were afraid of.

I don’t support this prosecution. We were at war and British soldiers acted accordingly

We were not 'at war'. Even if a war had been declared there is such a thing as a 'crime against humanity'.

A peaceful protest, in a British street for British people wanting the same civil rights as the rest of the UK. And the army shot them, shot people running and crawling away, women, men and children. Lets concentrate on the children.

You really think it's OK to shoot a child? Or 2? or 7?

It's just after the anniversary of Dunblane, children being shot in Britain should shock everyone.

m.soundcloud.com/morning-ireland/a-reminder-of-the-events-of-bloody-sunday

Anyone who discusses the Troubles and mentions the IRA but not the UVF or UDA (or indeed British Army or RUC), or mentions Manchester, London and Warrington but not Belfast, Derry and Omagh makes it very clear they haven't got a fucking clue what they're talking about.

Soldier F's testimony to the Savile inquiry will be used, since he admitted everything. The only issue here is that he is the only one being prosecuted, not that there is a prosecution.

There are people on all sides who have quite literally got away with murder.

None of them civilians.

that unit which had a reputation, why they were even placed anywhere near a civil rights march?

They were sent, precisely because of that reputation, to arrest marchers. A memo sent by a CO even mentions shooting them. Before it happened.

This is all part of the Savile inquiry and public knowledge. The CO didn't recall sending the memo apparently.

Soldier F's testimony to the Savile inquiry will be used, since he admitted everything.

I don’t think he did admit everything, isn’t that the point? He lied the whole way.

Imissgmichael

What about 7/7 ?
9/11?
The moors murders?
All the people killed in WWII?

They are all irrelevant to this case.

As for murderers being set free, yes some were, and the people of the Island of Ireland understood that more than any of us on this side of the Irish sea, they voted for the GFA.

I am not arrogant enough to think that I know better than a relative of someone murdered, or someone maimed, these are the people who voted for the agreement that brought peace.

As far as I understand it, the DPP could not rely on Saville testimony and conclusions when deciding to bring these prosecutions. So I don’t think that Soldier F’s evidence (or anyone else’s) will be used - it will have to be regiven in court.

It should be the CO and the upper ranks in that dock and a foot soldier in my opinion. They orchestrated this, they threw a match in to the tinder box, the outcome is their fault and theirs only.

*Soldier F's testimony to the Savile inquiry will be used, since he admitted everything.

I don’t think he did admit everything, isn’t that the point? He lied the whole way*

I think he’s the only one being pursued because of the photographic evidence against him. Which is why he did concede at the inquiry that he shot an unarmed civilian.

The release of convicted terrorists/paramilitaries as part of the GFA was a bitter pill to swallow. It was a brave move however and the proof of the pudding is in the eating - things have changed for the people of NI for much the better. At least those prisoners who were released had their day in court, had to face prosecution and their victims got some insight into the truth (though undoubtedly not all of it).

The families of those murdered on Bloody Sunday also deserve the truth. They deserve legal due process. They have a right to justice. Those who made the shocking decisions that resulted in that massacre of innocent civilians, on British streets by the British state, need to be held to account.

It's not about politics, it's about democracy. One of the fundamental principles of democracy is protecting the citizen from tyranny by the state. If Bloody Sunday had happened on the mainland, the fury and outrage of the public would never have subsided until those responsible had faced trial. The people of NI are British citizens, even those who don't want NI to be part of the UK, and are entitled to as much justice and respect as the rest of us.

Yes it’s correct that evidence from Savile can’t be used.

To the de-railer from earlier in the thread: no one has written that murders by paramilitary groups were justifiable. I’m a pacifist and hate all forms of violence.

twitter.com/newsworthy_ie/status/1106200965751934977?s=21

This clip, of bugged British Army barracks telephone recordings on Bloody Sunday, is very revealing.

I don't think those that are defending this regiment by calling it a war actually know the implications of their assertion.

If you are insistent that 'you were at war' then the actions by the paratroopers on Bloody Sunday would be war crimes, and therefore all those in the regiment and their commanding officers should stand trial in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

So perhaps you'd prefer to call it what it was - Murder. He's the token scapegoat taking one for the team. And likely some serious medical issues will emerge so as to ensure that by the time it eventually gets to trial, he's deemed too unfit to serve any time behind bars.

Apologies I'd misread that evidence from the Savile inquiry could be used, my mistake.

It's very interesting that the British government chooses this exact moment to pit "Brits against the Irish" isn't it?

It's almost as if it suits them to do so.

I have a Southern Irish parent and family. I thought i was well informed about the situation but as i get older i realise how little i did know!
I studied modern history and it always shocks me how the bad the British army were. The things that happened in NI, India, Africa etc is disgraceful.

Im curious, does it feel like an insult that they are trying one person when there is so much more to it. Like they are half heartedly doing it to say look we are doing something.

I know the derailer is gone but it made me laugh that they didnt even know what the North was. Berk.

Do people honestly believe that families can just move on without the truth?

Does this apply to everyone, including families killed by IRA terrorists who were released?

I don't think anyone should be above the law. Soldiers should be prosecuted if they've committed crimes. As should the terrorists who also killed and injured innocent people.

As for murderers being set free, yes some were, and the people of the Island of Ireland understood that more than any of us on this side of the Irish sea, they voted for the GFA.

I am not arrogant enough to think that I know better than a relative of someone murdered, or someone maimed, these are the people who voted for the agreement that brought peace.

Are you forgetting that there were victims on the mainland too? Were they, or their families asked? Did they get to vote?

Did they get to vote?

Not in the GFA referendums, but you could make a case that they were given an opportunity to vote (or not) for political parties that backed the GFA.

(“mainland” )

peaceaccords.nd.edu/provision/prisoner-release-northern-ireland-good-friday-agreement

Link to the terms under which republican and loyalist prisoners belonging to paramilitary organisation who agreed to a ceasefire were given accelerated releases under the GFA.

Weetabix, I think your bias is showing, with the whole 'mainland' thing, and your convenient forgetting of the existence of loyalist paramilitaries.

Mind you, I am continually astonished by the number of apparently reasonably well-informed English people I meet who seem to have thought the IRA and associated organisations had no loyalist equivalents.