‘Sunday’ families still treated like ‘second-class citizens’ - claim
A sister of one of the teenagers murdered on Bloody Sunday has criticised the PSNI for delaying the murder investigation into the 1972 massacre, insisting that while time is “of the essence”, local families are still being treated like “second class citizens”.
Kay Green, whose 17 year-old brother Jackie Duddy was the first fatality on 30 January 1972, is frustrated that despite announcing their complex murder investigation earlier this year, investigating the actions of British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday is still not regarded as a top priority by PSNI.
“This is still a murder investigation and, while the PSNI take their time deciding, they need to realise that time really is of the essence here. We are all getting older, so what are they going to do - wait till either we die off or the soldiers do? That’s what it looks like to me,” Mrs Green said yesterday.
“The one thing we don’t want is to pass this responsibility on to another generation, just as it was passed to us from our parents.”
Mrs Green’s comments comes as the PSNI responded to last week’s criticism at the lack of progress in the case.
Last Friday’s ‘Journal’ revealed that, to date, not one soldier implicated in the murder of 14 men and the maiming of a further 14 has been interviewed, or indeed arrested, as part of the investigation.
Responding, a PSNI spokesperson told the ‘Journal’: “Police began a scoping exercise earlier this year to determine investigative issues following the publication of the Saville report. This has now been concluded and consideration remains ongoing as to the future resourcing of the investigation which will be both lengthy and complex.
“We are committed to resourcing this investigation into the events of 30 January 1972 but this has to be determined against competing priorities which pose a risk to the public today.”
However, Mrs Green, a prominent Bloody Sunday campaigner, says she is not surprised at the latest delays.
“Considering we waited so long since 1972 anyway, and the fact that it’s been two and a half years since the Saville Report was delivered, not to mention the fact that the police didn’t even have the common courtesy to inform families about the murder investigation and we actually found out about it on the news - I am really not surprised. We are only the families, after all. We’ve always been treated as second-class citizens and so it goes on - our loved ones mean nothing to them.
“They have every bit of evidence necessary - evidence that they murdered, evidence that they committed perjury - it’s all there in front of them. What more do they need?”
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Weather for Derry
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South west
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