SAVILLE INQUIRY - Day 427: A former member of the Provisional IRA, who refused to give evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, was yesterday certified to the High Court for being in contempt of the inquiry.
At the end of the evidential stage of the hearing in Derry's Guildhall, tribunal chairman Lord Saville said the man, known as Provisional IRA 9, had ignored requests to come forward to give evidence about the killings of 13 civilians in Derry on January 30th, 1972.
He is the only witness, following the 427-day long inquiry, to be certified to the High Court for contempt. At the conclusion of this stage, Lord Saville said that Provisional IRA 9 had "made it clear through his solicitors that he will not attend to give evidence. His solicitors have informed the inquiry that Provisional IRA 9 claims not to have been present on Bloody Sunday, but have put forward no reason for his refusal to attend. We take the view that he is in contempt of this tribunal and we will so certify to the High Court in Belfast."
The chairman said several other witnesses, among them journalists and former paramilitaries, who, in the opinion of the inquiry, also withheld evidence, would not face contempt proceedings. Following evidence from more than 900 witnesses, the time had come to draw the line.
"In our judgment that time has come and the balance falls on the side of concluding our search for relevant information from the witnesses in question. Our task now is to draw conclusions from the voluminous material that we have gathered over the last six years," he said.
Counsel to the inquiry Mr Christopher Clarke QC described the proceedings as an enormous task on an issue of great controversy.
The inquiry will reopen on June 7th to discuss closing submissions by the various legal parties before Mr Clarke starts his formal closing statement on October 4th.
The families of those killed and wounded said they felt they had achieved a great deal. Speaking on behalf of the families, Mr Michael McKinney said the inquiry's three judges now had to "vindicate each of our loved ones and each of the wounded of all wrongdoing on Bloody Sunday.
"I feel today the way I felt the day after Bloody Sunday when the paratroopers started the process of justifying their actions. That makes me feel angry but every second of this inquiry was worth it because we have come a long way to achieving the truth.
"Now when the judges give their final ruling, we will want accountability and that means recommendations to the DPP based on their findings," he said.