The British ministry of defence has promised to pay for the legal defence of any soldiers prosecuted for the killings on Bloody Sunday, in a move that is being widely interpreted in London and Dublin as a sign that the Northern Ireland Prosecution Service will announce a decision to charge the soldiers on Thursday.promised that the solders would be represented in any prosecutions “entirely at the Ministry of Defence’s expense”.
The soldiers will be entitled to retain their own lawyers “without limit of time or cap on expenditure”, Mr Williamson said. The soldiers will not be means tested nor required to contribute to their own legal costs. The letter, issued just minutes before the Brexit vote on Tuesday night, says that decision on legal representation would be “not driven by considerations of cost, but of offering veterans the best possible representation”.
While the ministry says that it is committed to helping all former soldiers facing such investigations, British officials have contacted all the Bloody Sunday soldiers under investigation to assure them the state will pay for their legal defence. The letter goes on to say that the ministry of defence is seeking legislative changes to protect soldiers against prosecution noting that it is “unwaveringly committed to finding ways to give appropriate legal protection to serving and former members of the armed forces in situations where they currently face repeated investigations and potential prosecution following events that happened many years ago”.
The possibility of damage to the GFA from this case worries me. I can't see how the idea that some protagonists in a conflict can have immunity/amnesty for their outrages while others do not will keep on flying. Is it not time for general amnesty?