Bloody Sunday Inquiry rulings acceptable
By Martha McClelland
Relatives and wounded said they will cooperate with the Bloody
Sunday Inquiry following Friday's rulings by its chair, Lord
Saville. This involves the handover of documents that they had
intimated could be withheld for another inquiry if the
arrangements proved impossible to ensure a fair hearing.
Saville agreed to grant the families the ten barristers they
deemed necessary rather than the three initially offered by the
Inquiry, although in his statement he insisted that he did not
feel that this was a strict legal necessity, but ruled that the
additional legal representation was justified in the interests of
justice ``being seen to be done.''
On the contentious issue of immunity from prosecution for
witnesses - particularly the British soldiers and officials -
Saville did not rule out immunity but said this was possible,
with each witness applying for it separately and each application
judged individually. Included in the protection offered under
anonymity, Saville did not rule out witnesses being identified to
the public by numbers or letters, or giving evidence behind a
screen.
Speaking for the relatives, Mr Tony Doherty gave the ruling a
guarded welcome, confirming that relatives had agreed to
cooperate with the Inquiry but would be reviewing their position
at crucial points. ``The most important issues, such as immunity
and anonymity, have yet to be dealt with and we will be reviewing
such issues at every important juncture. At this stage the
families are pleased that the inquiry has established the
fundamental issue of fairness in how it intends to proceed.''
However, Doherty did say that the families were disappointed that
Saville had rebuked them for their lack of cooperation in handing
over materials in their possession. ``The families had always
intended to hand over the relevant materials as soon as the
ground rules for the inquiry were established, as we have
absolutely nothing to hide. The families felt it was more
important to rebuke the Ministry of Defence who was been unable
to locate any of the 1800 soldiers, including 320 Paras, who were
there on the day, apart from the ten soldiers who volunteered to
come forward. To date the families have received very little
materials from the Inquiry and nothing at all from the MoD.''
Over 40,000 pages of documents will be presented to the Inquiry
on behalf of the relatives.
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