Potential Bloody Sunday prosecutions outrageous, says senior DUP figure

Senior DUP figure Gregory Campbell has complained former police officers and soldiers are being disproportionately pursued by the authorities after it was reported prosecutors are currently considering whether or not to charge 18 soldiers who were in the Bogside on January 30, 1972, when paratroopers shot 13 civil rights marchers dead.

Mr. Campbell said: “Ninety-per-cent of the deaths in the Troubles were by paramilitaries yet the balance of investigations is disproportionately against former police officers and soldiers. Such a one-sided approach only serves those who want to re-write the past.”

In relation to potential prosecutions arising from the events of Bloody Sunday, Mr. Campbell said, he had always believed the Saville Inquiry would lead to demands for prosecutions.

“Those who foolishly welcomed the revised Saville Report and thought that was the end of the matter have now had their answer. As I said at the time, it would not be the end of the matter.

“People right across Northern Ireland and throughout the rest of the United Kingdom will be demanding that any evidence, which exists against surviving participants from the IRA killing campaign must be immediately investigated.

“This is an outrageous example of former soldiers who stood against the sectarian terrorism of 1972, instigated by the IRA, now being tried whilst many of those who hid behind balaclavas have avoided any trial.”