Ex-British soldier pleads not guilty to ‘Bloody Sunday’ murders after judge clears the way for trial

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LONDON (AP) — A former British soldier will be tried for the murder of two men killed during the 1972 “Bloody Sunday” disturbances in Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second-biggest city, after a judge refused to dismiss the charges against him.

The veteran, known only as Soldier F, is charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder stemming from a civil rights march and the rioting that followed it on Jan. 30, 1972. Thirteen people were killed by British Army gunfire that day, the largest number of deaths in a shooting incident during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland known as “The Troubles.”

During a hearing Friday at Belfast Crown Court, Justice Stephen Fowler rejected an application from the ex-soldier’s lawyers to dismiss the charges on the grounds that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.

Following the ruling, Soldier F pleaded not guilty. The veteran entered his plea from behind a blue floor-to-ceiling curtain after the judge granted a request to shield his identity. The veteran’s lawyers had argued that he would be a “prized target” for dissident Irish Republicans if his identity were made public.

The judge said he expected the trial to take place early next year and scheduled the next hearing in the case for Jan. 24.

Soldier F is the only British Army veteran to face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings after years of investigations and aborted efforts to bring charges against the former soldiers.

The first government-commissioned inquiry, published less than three months after the deaths, found that the soldiers had only opened fire after they had been fired upon. A second inquiry in 2010 rejected that conclusion, finding that the soldiers violated their rules of engagement and opened fire on people who didn’t pose a threat to them. That cleared the way for the prosecution of Soldier F.

Bloody Sunday remains a source of tension in Northern Ireland more than 25 years after the peace agreement that largely ended the Troubles. Families of the victims continue to demand justice for their loved ones, while supporters of army veterans who fought in the conflict complain that they continue to be dogged by investigations and potential charges decades after their service ended.

Outside the court, Mickey McKinney, the brother of one of the men killed in 1972, said it was a “good day” for the victims and their families.

“The events of Bloody Sunday took place 53 years ago next month,” he said. “It is imperative that the court does not tolerate any more delay and that this trial proceeds as a matter of urgency.”