Bloody Sunday inquiry holds hearing in Derry
Monday, 27 September 1999 18:03
The Saville Inquiry, which is re-investigating the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972, resumed with a preliminary hearing at the Guildhall in the city this morning. It emerged that statements had been taken from 1,500 civilians. The inquiry is re-examining the events of Bloody Sunday in which 14 people were fatally wounded by the British army. This preliminary inquiry is likely to be the last special sitting, before the full oral hearing of the inquiry begins at the end of next March.
The enormity of the task facing the Saville inquiry was starkly unlined with the release of details of the massive amount of evidence that could come before it when the full hearings begin next March. There will be tens of thousands of documents, hundreds of witnesses - civilian and military, hours of video and audio tape and a vast array of photographs.
Counsel for the inquiry, Christopher Clarke said he hoped the bulk of the relevant material had been retrieved but he raised a question mark over whether the British Army had handed over all the information in it's possession. The Ministry of Defence has until Wednesday to confirm that it has fully co-operated with the Saville inquiry.
Later counsel for some of the soldiers asked the tribunal to grant annonymity to all the troops involved on Bloody Sunday except those whose names are already in the public domain. Lawyers for the relatives objected to the granting of blanket anonymity, arguing that there was a clear difference in the degree of risk to soldiers who fired shots and those who did not.
- 1.00 News: Brendan Wright reports on this morning's hearing
- 9.00 News: Brendan Wright reports from Derry
