A former British soldier referred to only as Soldier F went before a judge on Monday for the alleged killing of two men and the attempted murder of five others in .
Soldier F, an ex-paratrooper, has been granted anonymity as the proceedings get underway in Belfast. In court, he will be concealed behind a curtain where he will stand before a judge with no jury.
Family members of victims gathered outside the courthouse, holding posters with pictures of their relatives as the landmark case got underway.
What happened on ‘Bloody Sunday?’
Unarmed protesters calling for an end to anti-Catholic policies were attacked by British soldiers, who killed 13 and injured at least 15 others on the streets of Derry on January 30, 1972.
The protest was part of a violent conflict between mostly Catholic supporters of a united Ireland and predominantly Protestant groups that wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom, as well as British soldiers stated in Northern Ireland, a period of time know as the Troubles.
Investigations conducted at the time concluded that the soldiers returned fire at the protesters in self defense after stones were thrown. A later inquiry revealed that there was no justification for the killings.
Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron apologized in 2010 and admitted the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable.”
Soldier F is accused of killing James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26.
Why has it taken so long?
For decades, the UK government’s policy was that the 16 soldiers involved had acted in self defense. A 2010 attempt to try them on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence. Relatives of the victims appealed the case against Soldier F and it was reinstated. He pled not guilty and asked to have the case dimissed, but his motion was denied.
“We’re here now, at last, after all this time. It’s not nervousness, it’s anticipation more so. I’m not even sure that it’s really sunk in yet that we’re here now,” a relative of one of the victims told PA media group.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
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