Guarded welcome for Legacy Bill as 'de facto amnesty' for terrorists already exists

​Both the NI Veterans Movement (NIVM) and the Malone House Group claim the legacy mechanisms already in place provide for the prosecution of former member of the security forces, with an effective amnesty for former terrorists.

NIVM spokesman Paul Young said: “We would oppose any changes to the nature of the [Legacy Bill] that is going through.

"Hopefully when it gets back to the House of Commons, any changes that are made in the House of Lords will be rejected. We have seen this bill and we believe that it will be the best way forward for veterans to stop them facing prosecution.”

Speaking to the News Letter earlier in the legislative process, Mr Young said if the bill is implemented, “there will be no more show trials, no more legacy inquests costing millions of pounds,” and added: “The NIVM will scrutinize every detail of the proposed bill to ensure that the legislation truly offers the protection for which veterans have been campaigning.”

Jeff Dudgeon of the Malone House Group has described the legacy situation in NI as “close to a full amnesty” as result of numerous government initiatives, including: on-the-run letters; the Royal Prerogative of Mercy being generously granted; no forensic examination of decommissioned weapons, and indemnities provided to witnesses at various inquiries.

In it written submission to the government’s consultation on the new legislation, the Malone House Group said it welcomed “the direction of travel and the apparent common sense approach," and went on to say: “We have had an amnesty, certainly a one-sided amnesty, in all but name.

"Despite Amnesty International’s rigorous opposition to an amnesty, one has happened without a breach of the European Convention.

"It is recognised that there will never now be more than a handful of prosecutions on reinvestigation of murders ‘where there is new evidence’”