THE NORTH’S Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is continuing to scrutinise the Saville report to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against British soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday on January 30th, 1972.
While progress has been made on the issue of compensation there have been no substantial developments in relation to the possibility of British soldiers being charged.
The PPS confirmed yesterday that the 5,000-page report by Lord Saville into Bloody Sunday remains under examination but that it is not yet in a position to rule on whether or not criminal cases can be taken against British soldiers involved in the shootings over 39 years ago.
It is understood that such is the volume of material and the complexity of the issues that it will be some time before the PPS is in a position to rule on whether any of the soldiers will be prosecuted.
However the possibility of compensation being paid relatively soon has increased following contacts earlier this year between Madden and Finucane solicitors, who represent the majority of the families, and the British prime minister David Cameron.
“The Ministry of Defence have now written to us indicating that they wish to settle all issues concerning compensation in the near future, and we shall be considering this correspondence closely with those that we represent, and discussions will shortly commence with Ministry of Defence representatives in order to resolve the issue,” Madden and Finucane said in a statement yesterday.
The issue has caused some stress within the Bloody Sunday families. The sisters of one of the 14 unarmed men who died in the shootings described as “repugnant and repulsive” the news that the ministry of defence has offered to discuss compensation with the victims’ families.
Kate and Linda Nash, whose brother William (19) was shot dead and whose father Alex was wounded on Bloody Sunday, said they would never accept compensation. Only three of the women widowed on Bloody Sunday are still alive and the parents of all of the 14 victims are dead. Many of the 14 wounded on Bloody Sunday are also dead.
Yesterday members of the Bloody Sunday families, with the exception of the Nash sisters, refused to comment on the issue of compensation which has caused divisions within the families since the Saville report last year acknowledged the innocence of the victims.
In 1974, two years after the Bogside killings, the victims’ families received ex-gratia compensation payments ranging from £200 to £16,000. Linda Nash said even then her mother refused that compensation.
“Speaking personally, I find the issue of compensation repulsive. I will never take any money for the murder of my brother and for the wounding of my father. No payment can compensate for the loss of a loved one,” she said.
“The MoD can do whatever they want but we have instructed our solicitor to focus on prosecutions and to have nothing to do with compensation,” she said.
For an interactive map showing what happened on Bloody Sunday see: irishtimes.com/ indepth/saville-report/