The Five Demands

Gregory Campbell chiede il dettaglio dei costi dell’inchiesta sulla Bloody Sunday, contestualmente alla pubblicazione del Rapporto Saville

Gregory Campbell, rappresentate DUP per la circoscrizione di East Belfast, ha richiesto ieri sera che venga reso noto il dettaglio dei costi che i contribuenti hanno dovuto sostenere, nei 12 anni di inchiesta portata avanti da Lord Saville.
“L’indagine Saville è in corso ormai da 12 anni e durante quel tempo ha inghiottito decine di milioni di libbre di scarsi fondi pubblici”, ha detto riferendosi alle indiscrezioni secondo le quali l’inchiesta sulla Bloody Sunday sarebbe costata 190 milioni di sterline.
“Ci saranno molte persone saranno molto scettici sul fatto che il rapporto possa soddisfare coloro che hanno visto l’intero procedimento come un semplice meccanismo per riscrivere la storia di quanto accaduto a Derry quel giorno e punire i soldati che sono stata inviati per rispondere alle violenze ed agli omicidi che sono accaduti in qull’area in quel periodo”.
L’annuncio dato ieri della pubblicazione del Rapporto Saville il 15 giugno prossimo, ha fatto seguito ad un’interrogazione diretta al Segretario di Stato Owen Patterson, per chiedere di fornire la data di pubblicazione e la rivelazione della totalità dei costi sostenuti.
Il timore ricorrente è che i veri beneficiari dell’inchiesta siano gli avvocati che hanno visto rimpinguare le proprie tasche.

Bloody Sunday costs ‘must be revealed’ (NewsLetter)
The government has been urged to give a full and detailed breakdown of how much the Bloody Sunday inquiry cost taxpayers.
Thirteen people died in Londonderry in 1972 when the Parachute Regiment opened fire on crowds during a civil rights demonstration in which it was claimed soldiers came under fire.
Lord Saville, who conducted an investigation into what is one of the most infamous incidents of the Troubles, will make his findings public on June 15.
East Londonderry DUP MP Gregory Campbell said last night that the publication of the Saville report should be accompanied by the full details of costs for the inquiry – estimated to be in the region of £190m.
“The Saville inquiry has been ongoing now for 12 years and during that time it has swallowed up many tens of millions of pounds of scarce public funds,” he said.
“There will be many people who will be highly sceptical that the report is likely to ever satisfy some of those who have seen this entire process as simply a mechanism to rewrite the history of what happened in Londonderry on that day and punish the soldiers who were sent to respond to the violence and murders which had been happening in the area at that time.”
The announcement of publication comes after Mr Campbell tabled a question to Secretary of State Owen Patterson asking for a date of publication to be provided and for the full costs to also be released into the public domain.
“I had recently tabled a parliamentary question to the new secretary of state asking for him to give a date for the publication of the Saville report and I am glad that he has now given a date for this to occur,” he said.
“However, I have also asked that alongside the final publication of the document, which has taken 12 years to produce, that there is the full publication of all the costs associated with this extremely lengthy exercise.
“When this entire process is looked back upon it is likely that the conclusion most people will draw is that the only real beneficiaries have been lawyers who have earned huge fees paid from the public purse.”
He said there are those who are setting out a long list of preconditions if they are to judge the report as a success.
This, he said, reinforces the view in some quarters that the only purpose of the Saville inquiry has been “putting soldiers in the dock and seeking to punish them for what happened”.