Soldier F case: ‘Eastwood was totally wrong – but so are death threats’
Gregory Campbell has hit out afresh at SDLP leader Colum Eastwood – but added that regardless of his actions, it is “indefensible” to threaten an elected representative.
Death threats are said to be have been made to Mr Eastwood in response to his decision to name Soldier F in the House of Commons, where a mechanism called “parliamentary privilege” gives MPs wide-ranging legal protection to say what they like without risk of being sued.
The media however has largely declined to print the ex-soldier’s identity, due to ongoing concerns about the legality of doing so.
It all follows the collapse of Soldier F’s trial for two murders – those of William McKinney, 26, and Jim Wray, 22 – plus five attempted murders during Bloody Sunday.
Mr Campbell, DUP MP for East Londonderry, had been among the most vocal critics of Mr Eastwood’s decision.
Yesterday, the SDLP press office told the News Letter that there had been more than one threat, and that they had come via email and via social media.
One of them was said to have contained a reference to Mr Eastwood having “signed his own death warrant”.
The PSNI told the News Letter that it had “received a complaint that threatening and offensive comments had been made online yesterday, Thursday, July 15 – police enquiries are ongoing into this matter”.
“It is not nice, particularly when you have a family,” he said. “I did what I thought was right on behalf of the Bloody Sunday families. Those people have faced a whole lot worse than death threats.”
He was also quoted as saying that those responsible can “expect a knock on the door”.
Mr Campbell said: “Colum Eastwood received a death threat. No ambiguity from me on this issue.
“It was reprehensible and indefensible of him to name ‘Soldier F’ in Parliament.
“He did this in the full knowledge that the judge in a court of law had said a ‘real threat does exist’ and Soldier F is right to ‘feel genuine fear’.
“The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is to decide on his behaviour.
“Hopefully she can do so quickly, and no-one should undermine an investigation into his unacceptable comments.
“Anyone issuing a death threat is reprehensible and indefensible also.”
——— ———
A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.
Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.
Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.