Ex-British soldier goes on trial for Bloody Sunday killings

LONDON (AP) – Families of the victims and survivors of the 1972 Bloody Sunday, in which British soldiers opened fire and killed 13 unarmed civil rights marchers and injured 15 others in Northern Ireland, have fought for justice for five decades without a single person being held accountable in court.

That could change after Monday when a former British soldier goes on trial on charges of murder in the shooting of two men and the attempted murders of five others.

The ex-paratrooper, identified only as a “Soldier F” and concealed from view in court behind blue floor-to-ceiling curtain to protect him from vengeance, is the lone defendant in the deadliest shooting in the three decades of Northern Ireland violence known as “The Troubles.”

The Jan. 30, 1972 massacre in Londonderry has come to symbolize the long-running conflict between mainly Catholic supporters of a united Ireland and predominantly Protestant forces that wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Tensions have eased since the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, which created a system for Republican and Unionist parties to share power in Northern Ireland.

The path to the nonjury trial in Belfast Crown Court has been a torturous journey for families of the victims.

The government initially said soldiers from a parachute regiment opened fire at gunmen and bombers who were attacking them. A formal inquiry cleared the troops of responsibility. A subsequent and lengthier review in 2010 reached a much different conclusion, finding that soldiers had fired at unarmed people who were running away and then lied about it for decades.

Then-Prime Minister David Cameron apologized and said the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable.”

The findings cleared the way for the eventual prosecution of Soldier F, though that, too, has been beset by delays and obstacles.

It took seven years from the time police opened their investigation until prosecutors announced in 2019 that they would only charge Soldier F. They said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge 16 other former soldiers and two alleged members of the Official Irish Republican Army who were investigated for their roles in the shootings.

Two years later, the Public Prosecution Service dropped the case because they didn’t think they could prevail at trial. They made the decision after a judge tossed out a case against two soldiers in the killing of an Irish Republican Army leader after ruling key prosecution evidence was inadmissible.

But family members of one the Bloody Sunday victims appealed and the case against Soldier F was reinstated.

Tony Doherty, whose father Patrick was one of those killed, said the campaign for justice that began in 1992 had three demands: a declaration of innocence for the dead and wounded, rejection of the initial inquiry’s conclusions and prosecution of those responsible.

“The first two demands have been met, and when a British soldier stands in the dock on Monday and faces charges of multiple murder and attempted murder, we will see the third demand met, although we will always believe there should be many more on trial for Bloody Sunday,″ Doherty said. “We have waited 53 long years for justice and, hopefully, we will see a measure of it through this trial.”

Soldier F has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of James Wray and William McKinney, and five attempted murders for the shootings of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon, Patrick O’Donnell and a person whose identity is unknown.

A quarter century after the peace agreement, Bloody Sunday remains a source of tension in Northern Ireland.

Families of the victims continue to demand justice for their loved ones, while supporters of army veterans who fought in the conflict complain that they continue to be dogged by investigations and potential charges decades after their service ended.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense had said it would defend the ex-soldier while also working to reform the system for investigating allegations of past military misdeeds.

Derry Councilor Shaun Harkin, of the People Before Profit party, said the case against Soldier F represents the British state going on trial.

“The British government has sought to protect its parachute regiment killers for decades through lies, cover-up, delay and evasion,” Harkin said. “Soldier F pulled the trigger on Bloody Sunday and should be held to account, but the British government and top military brass who gave the orders should be held to account too.”