British soldiers who killed fourteen unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday must give evidence at the inquiry in Derry. The Tribunal, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, has ruled that military witnesses should testify.
Thirteen Catholic men and youths were killed during a civil rights demonstration in the city on January 30 1972. Another died a few days later. Paratroopers who fired the lethal shots on the day will be among over 250 military witnesses appearing at the Tribunal, which has been sitting in public in the Guildhall, Derry, for more than a year.
Lawyers for the military witnesses argued that the soldiers' lives could be at risk from Republican paramilitaries, or public disorder, if they gave evidence in person in Derry. They wanted the soldiers to be allowed to give their evidence either by video link or at a secret location in Britain.
The Tribunal rejected this, ruling: "We are satisfied, on the basis of the security advice that we have received, that the security authorities in Northern Ireland can provide, for soldiers giving evidence at the Guildhall, a level of protection sufficient to avoid any such risk." It was felt that the Tribunal would be diminished if part of the hearing were held elsewhere.
The Tribunal ruled: "It seems to us that the chances of this inquiry restoring public confidence in general and that of the people most affected in particular (which is the object of public inquiries of this kind) would be very seriously diminished (if not destroyed) by holding the inquiry or a major part of the inquiry far away and across the Irish Sea, unless there were compelling reasons to do so."
The inquiry is currently in recess and will return for public hearings on 3 September.
