"An army veteran will stand trial on Monday charged with murder in relation to Bloody Sunday, when the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civil rights protesters in Derry in 1972. The former paratrooper, known as Soldier F, is charged with two murders and five attempted murders during a military operation that became a defining event of Northern Ireland's Troubles. He has pleaded not guilty to the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murder of five others."
"A tribunal led by Lord Widgery in 1972 cleared the soldiers of wrongdoing but a 2010 inquiry by Lord Saville concluded that the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable. The British government apologised for the killings. Plays, films, books, documentaries and annual commemorations have kept Bloody Sunday in public consciousness. A court order granted Soldier F anonymity after defence lawyers argued he would be a prized target for dissident republicans if his identity was made public."
Soldier F, a former paratrooper, is charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder for actions during Bloody Sunday in Derry on 30 January 1972. Thirteen civilians died that day and a 14th victim died months later; 31 civilians were shot. The Widgery tribunal in 1972 cleared soldiers, while the 2010 Saville inquiry found the killings unjustified and unjustifiable and prompted a government apology. The trial at Belfast crown court follows decades of campaigning by victims’ families. A court order grants anonymity to Soldier F, and Mr Justice Fowler will preside without a jury. Defence lawyers argue witness inconsistencies undermine the evidence.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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