Families of those killed on Bloody Sunday gathered in Londonderry today as soldiers involved on the day wait to find out if they are to be prosecuted.
Seventeen former soldiers, who are now in their 60s and 70s, will this morning learn whether they face criminal charges over the killing of 13 civilians in the city in 1972.
Former members of the support company of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment are facing possible charges of murder, attempted murder and causing grievous injury with intent.
But there has been an outcry over the prospect of military veterans being prosecuted for their roles in Northern Ireland during the Troubles so long after the event.
Many are angry that British troops face court action while IRA fugitives were sent so-called 'comfort letters', assuring them they were no longer being hunted by the police.
Relatives of those killed were today joined by supporters close to the scene of the shootings in Londonderry's Bogside, ahead of a march to a city centre hotel where they will find out if the veterans will face court action.
Families of those killed in the Bloody Sunday violence are marching through Londonderry ahead of an announcement as to whether 17 former British soldiers and two former members of the Official IRA will be prosecuted
Families of those who died on Bloody Sunday march this morning through the Bogside in Londonderry, Northern Ireland
The families march together to a city centre hotel today to hear whether charges will be brought against the British soldiers
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was shot dead aged 17, said he was 'hoping and praying' families will get news of prosecutions.
'We're all very anxious, nervous, but at the same time we're sort of fairly confident that we are going to get what we want,' he said.
The case comes after years of arguing over what was one of the darkest days of the Troubles.
Unionists and military veterans insist it is betrayal of those who served and fought in Northern Ireland to now put the soldiers on trial.
The soldiers involved claimed they retaliated after coming under gunfire and former Army chiefs fear servicemen may not follow orders in future if they fear they could face prosecution at a later date.
Relatives of those killed insist they are seeking to challenge false claims that their loved ones had been armed.
Meanwhile, the officer who was in charge of British troops on Bloody Sunday today hit out at the possibility that his men will be dragged into court nearly 50 years on.
Lt-Col Derek Wilford, the commander on the day, said today that he and his men feel 'betrayed' and that he is 'very angry' at their treatment by authorities.
The now-86-year-old told The Daily Telegraph: 'I maintain the fact that there was fire and we were part of it. These people on the barricades were out to kill us. You don't need to be a soldier to realise that's what was happening.
'That is why now I have no sympathy with the other side. My sympathy lies with my soldiers, who day after day were obliged to go out into the wilderness of hostility.'
He said he accepted that what happened was bad and he is sorry for what took place, but does not regret what his soldiers did.
A photo from January 30 1972 shows demonstrators facing off with British soldiers minutes before paratroopers opened fire, killing 13 civilians on what became known as Bloody Sunday
British troops search civilians on the day of the Bloody Sunday massacre, January 30, 1972
Police began the criminal probe in the wake of the 12-year, £200million inquiry led by Lord Saville, which concluded in 2010. Soldiers are angry that the inquiry, which was set up only to determine what happened, was now being used to mount potential criminal cases
Pictured: The aftermath of the incident. Eighteen former paratroopers were under investigation, but one died last year
British troops had been sent into the Bogside nationalist housing estate to deal with riots which followed a march, held in defiance of a ban on public processions.
As well as the 13 who died, a total of 15 others were shot and injured. One of the injured died months later from an inoperable tumour and some consider him the 14th fatality.
In 2010, an inquiry by Lord Saville found that those killed were innocent and posed no threat. The soldiers claimed they fired in retaliation after coming under attack from IRA gunmen.
Anger at 'comfort letters' given to IRA terrorists while British troops face court
The anger of Army veterans over possible prosecutions has been increased by the 'comfort letters' given to IRA terror suspects.
The letters were sent out following a scheme set up by Tony Blair's Labour government in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
They assured 187 Republican terror suspects they were no longer being hunted by the police.
IRA terror suspect John Downey was sent an immunity letter causing his trial for for the 1982 Hyde Park bombing to collapse
At least 95 recipients were linked to almost 300 murders.
The letters – sent to the so-called 'on the runs' after pressure from Sinn Fein – only came to light during the trial of John Downey, the man accused of the Hyde Park bombing in 1982.
The trial collapsed in February last year when it emerged the 63-year-old had been told he would not face prosecution for the blast that killed four soldiers and seven horses in London.
Soldiers now facing possible prosecution are angry that the public inquiry is now effectively being used against them.
One former soldier said: 'We were made to give evidence to the Saville inquiry. We weren't hiding from anyone. But we were told statements given to the inquiry couldn't be used in prosecutions.
'The next thing we know, the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service (PPS) are saying they are deciding on prosecutions.
'At the time of the inquiry, families were saying they were not interested in prison sentences for soldiers. Now they are saying they want life sentences.'
Lord Saville, who chaired the investigation into the incident, yesterday insisted its sole purpose was to find out what went on.
Lord Saville told the BBC: 'I didn't know what was likely to happen. We hoped the inquiry would help the situation in Ireland and I think and hope it did to a degree.
'The question as to whether it draws a line under events or whether there should be prosecutions is not one for me, it's one for politicians and prosecuting authorities.
'If people want more and feel that justice can only be served by prosecutions against those that they believe to be responsible, then that is a matter again on which I can't really comment.'
Evidence given to the Bloody Sunday inquiry is not admissible in any potential criminal prosecutions under terms agreed when it was launched in 1998.
But soldiers say there would have been no prospect of prosecutions without it.
An investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) followed the £195 million inquiry and files on 18 soldiers were submitted to prosecutors in 2016 and 2017 for consideration. One former soldier has since died.
Four other soldiers included in the Saville Report died before police had completed their investigation.
A decision is also due to be taken today by the PPS as to whether to charge two Official IRA suspects present on the day.
Papers before prosecutors included 668 witness statements and numerous photos, video and audio evidence.
The mural depicting those who lost their lives on Bloody Sunday in Rossville Street
A 1998 photograph of Lord Saville of Newdigate chairing the Bloody Sunday inquiry
A timeline of Bloody Sunday and the Troubles
August 1969 - British Government first send troops into Northern Ireland to restore order after three days of rioting in Catholic Londonderry.
30 January 1972 - On 'Bloody Sunday' 13 civilians are shot dead by the British Army during a civil rights march in Londonderry.
March 1972 - The Stormont Government is dissolved and direct rule imposed by London.
1970s - The IRA begin its bloody campaign of bombings and assassinations in Britain.
British troops in Northern Ireland during the Troubles which began in the late 1960s and lasted until 1998 with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement
April 1981 - Bobby Sands, a republicans on hunger strike in the Maze prison, is elected to Parliament. He dies a month later.
October 1984 - An IRA bomb explodes at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, where Margaret Thatcher is staying during the Tory Party conference.
Early 1990s - Margaret Thatcher and then Sir John Major set up a secret back channel with the IRA to start peace talks. The communications was so secret most ministers did not know about it.
April 1998 - Tony Blair helps to broker the Good Friday Agreement, which is hailed as the end of the Troubles. It establishes the Northern Ireland Assembly with David Trimble as its first minister.
Norman Tebbit, a Conservative cabinet minister at the time, is carried from the wreckage of Brighton's Grand Hotel following the IRA bomb in 1984
2000s - With some exceptions the peace process holds and republican and loyalist paramilitaries decommission their weapons
2010 - The Saville Report exonerates the civilians who were killed on Bloody Sunday leading to a formal apology from then Prime Minister David Cameron to the families.
2019 - Prosecutors announce whether to brig charges against the 17 surviving Paras who fired shots that day.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/14/bloody-sunday-victims-families-march-ahead-of-prosecution-decision/
Main photo article Families of those killed on Bloody Sunday gathered in Londonderry today as soldiers involved on the day wait to find out if they are to be prosecuted.
Seventeen former soldiers, who are now in their 60s and 70s, will this morning learn whether they face criminal charges over the killing of 13...
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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/14/09/10972564-6807811-image-a-32_1552556832188.jpg
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