THE sister of one of the Bloody Sunday victims today said there should be ‘no hiding place’ for the soldiers responsible for the 1972 murders in Derry.
Kay Duddy, whose 17 year-old brother Jackie was one of 13 people shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in Derry, was speaking at a memorial event to those who died.
During the event this morning at the Bloody Sunday monument at Rossville Street, Ms Duddy read out a statement on behalf of the victims’ families.
She was speaking after the PSNI chose the 42nd anniversary last Thursday to announce that they are now in a position to start interviewing both military and civilian witnesses as part of a criminal investigation into the Bloody Sunday shootings.
Ms Duddy described the murders as a ‘crime against humanity’.
“It was the cold-blooded murder of civilians but like so many of the other cases it was never treated as the murder it was,” she said.
“The British government lied about what happened, covered up the truth, blocked any proper investigation and treated our loved ones as lesser than others who had been killed by paramilitaries.
“But the deaths on Bloody Sunday must now be treated as what they were, as murder.”
She welcomed the PSNI investigation into the shootings.
“For almost four years after the release of the Saville report our third demand from the campaign that those responsible be brought to justice is finally being addressed and a murder investigation has been opened.
“We continue to demand that those responsible for this investigation to do with the utmost vigour and to use all the powers available to them to ensure that all of those who face justice finally do so.
“There should be no hiding place for those who came on to our streets and shot our loved ones dead.
“The time has come for them to answer for their actions in a court of law and we will do everything in our power to ensure that they do.”

See tomorrow's Derry News for extensive coverage of the Bloody Sunday commemoration events

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