Inquiry to meet security authorities Monday
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is to meet security authorities, including the British Ministry of Defence and RUC, on Monday, tribunal chairman Lord Saville of Newdigate said today.
The discussions, behind closed doors, are taking place before the Inquiry announces a ruling on where former soldiers should testify when called to give evidence.
Lord Saville disclosed plans for the talks at yesterday’s hearing in the Guildhall, Derry, and told the chamber today they would take place on Monday, meaning no oral evidence would be heard then.
The tribunal last week heard oral submissions on the subject, with lawyers for the troops who opened fire in Londonderry on January 30 1972 urging a move from the current location in the city to a venue in England.
However, legal representatives of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday resisted the demands, and rejected claims that military witnesses would be in danger of republican murder bids if the hearings stayed in the city.
The inquiry has so far heard only from civilians who were in the Bogside on the day of the shootings, or otherwise linked to events, and is expected to move into the phase of taking live evidence from former soldiers early next year.
Monday’s meeting will be held in private but Lord Saville said the tribunal would make public "to the greatest degree possible" the outcome of the meeting and before deciding how to proceed.
