A brother of Bloody Sunday victim, Jim Wray has accused the British state of operating an “amnesty by attrition” for former soldiers.
Liam Wray was speaking at a 51st commemoration rally at Free Derry Corner on Sunday following a march re-tracing the route of the original Bloody Sunday march. A large crowd attended the march which is organised annually by a small number of relatives of the Bloody Sunday dead. The majority of the victims' families do not take part in the march.
Mr Wray took the place of Dublin senator Eileen Flynn who was originally announced as one of the keynote speakers. He outlined the legal processes and legal delays which followed Bloody Sunday from the 1972 Widgery Inquiry to the Soldier F case. Soldier F is fighting moves to charge him with the murder of Mr Wray’s brother and fellow victim, William McKinney as well as the attempted murder of five of the injured.
“They want us to go away; they have amnesty by attrition and they think the longer they withhold justice from us that we’ll acquiesce and fade away. That’s why I’m delighted to see so many here today,” Mr Wray said.
The rally was also addressed by Rhea Glover, a niece of John Paul Wootton who is serving an 18-year sentence for the murder of PSNI constable Stephen Carroll in 2009. Ms Glover read an update on his case from her uncle.
Earlier on Sunday, SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood announced plans to nominate the Bloody Sunday families for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The Derry MP said he could think of no better tribute to the families because of their commitment to peace and reconciliations during their “long fight for truth and justice”.
Mr Eastwood said: “The Bloody Sunday families embody the spirit that is needed if we are ever to come together and build a truly shared society and better future for us all in a new Ireland and I can think of nobody more deserving of being honoured for their immense contribution to life here over the past five decades.”
At the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration service, also on Sunday, a plaque was unveiled dedicated to the Derry corps of the Order of Malta ambulance volunteers who treated many of the dying and wounded.
Commemorations continue on Monday with a minute’s silence being observed at the Bloody Sunday monument at Rossville Street at 4pm. The annual event marks the moment that the Parachute Regiment entered the Bogside during the original 1972 march.
