Fifteen British soldiers who were accused of lying during an inquiry into Bloody Sunday, a tragic event during the Northern Ireland conflict, will not face perjury charges, prosecutors announced on Friday. The Public Prosecution Service stated that there was insufficient evidence to convict the soldiers or a former alleged member of the Irish Republican Army regarding their testimony about the 1972 killings of 13 civilians by Britain’s Parachute Regiment in Derry, also known as Londonderry.
An initial investigation into the incident concluded that the soldiers were acting in self-defense against a mob of IRA bombers and gunmen. However, a 12-year-long inquiry that concluded in 2010 found that the soldiers had unjustifiably opened fire on unarmed civilians who were fleeing and then lied about it for decades.
The families of the victims expressed outrage at the decision. One family member, whose brother was killed on Bloody Sunday, criticized the lack of accountability for the Parachute Regiment's actions, calling it an 'affront to the rule of law.'
Despite the Good Friday peace accord in 1998 that largely ended the violence between Irish republican and British loyalist militants, the legacy of 'the Troubles' still lingers. The conflict claimed the lives of around 3,600 people, with most casualties in Northern Ireland.
Only one ex-paratrooper, known as Soldier F, is facing prosecution for two murders and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday. The possibility of further criminal prosecutions for past offenses may diminish due to a recent government bill that aimed to grant immunity to militant groups and British soldiers after a certain date.
While the decision not to bring perjury charges was based on various factors, including the admissibility of accounts given by soldiers in 1972 and the availability of evidence, it does not undermine the findings of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that the victims were not posing a threat to the soldiers.
