Bloody Sunday amnesty could 'draw a line' under atrocities, Lord Saville suggests
30 January 2022, 12:52 | Updated: 30 January 2022, 13:07
Chair of Bloody Sunday inquiry on planned amnesty for soldiers
The chair of the public inquiry into the Bloody Sunday attack believes government's intentions to grant amnesty to Northern Ireland veterans is an 'undoubtedly good' intention.
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Sunday 30 January marks the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where British soldiers shot and killed 13 civil rights protesters and injured many more. None were armed.
Read more: Bloody Sunday: Families hold remembrance walk for those killed on 50th anniversary
Lord Mark Saville was the chair of the independent public inquiry into the atrocity, which found that British Army killings of people in Derry on the day were completely unjustified. He spoke to Tom Swarbrick on the matter, when Tom asked what his view was on the government's plans to grant amnesty to soldiers who served during the Troubles.
He pointed out that the public inquiry was not a criminal court, but "whether there is sufficient admissible evidence to justify criminal proceedings" is another question.
Lord Saville added that Soldier F, an unnamed veteran who was implicated as taking part in the Bloody Sunday killings, wasn't pursued for such reasons.
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Tom wondered if Lord Saville felt "discomfort" around arguments for granting amnesty, making the case that people argue the Bloody Sunday atrocities were "a long time ago" and a line should be drawn.
"It's a very difficult question to decide between seeking justice where there are allegations of murder on the one hand, and chasing people down the decades when any prosecution should have taken place long ago, on the other", he declared.
"What do you think of the manner in which the current British government are making those decisions?" Tom pushed.
"I don't know the whole of their thinking, the idea behind it is undoubtedly good which is to try and draw a line under those terrible Troubles."
"Whether that is in fact the correct thing to do is difficult for me to say because I'm not privy to all the information", he concluded.
