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The PPS stated that second-guessing the decision could cause "significant and undue distress" to the families of the victims.
Prosecutors in Northern Ireland will formally announce their decision regarding the trial of former British Soldiers that would allegedly have participated in the deadly repression during "Bloody Sunday." According to The Telegraph, four army veterans might face murder charges.
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According to the U.K. media outlet, four former paratroopers could be facing murder chargers on March 14. The Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service (PPS) will meet with the families of the victims and make the official announcement on whether or not the former soldiers will face trial.
On January 30, 1972, Irish catholics, aligned to the independence movement, protested in Derry for civil rights. 13 protesters were shot and killed. The British Parachute Regiment shot at the crowd with live fire, 12 died at the scene and another person died in hospital. At least 14 others were injured. After a public inquiry, all the victims were exonerated and it was acknowledged that they were not posing any violent threat.
In June 2010, then-Prime Minister David Cameron offered an extraordinary apology for the 1972 killings, known as Bloody Sunday, and stated that they were "both unjustified and unjustifiable." According to Cameron "what happened should never, ever have happened, (...) The government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces. And for that, on behalf of the government, and indeed our country, I am deeply sorry."
The Prosecutors office in Northern Ireland has warned about the speculation on the imminent rulings on the Bloody Sunday soldiers. The PPS stated that second-guessing the decision could cause "significant and undue distress" to the families of the victims.
The repression during ‘Bloody Sunday’ marked an escalation in the conflict between the British presence in Northern Ireland, and the anti-colonial movement that fought to unify Ireland as an independent republic. Many of the survivors of Bloody Sunday were radicalised by the experience, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) gained much public support and new recruits following what some saw as a colonial massacre.
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