Fifteen British soldiers who were accused of lying during an inquiry into Bloody Sunday, a tragic event during the Northern Ireland conflict, will not face perjury charges, prosecutors announced on Friday. The Public Prosecution Service stated that there was insufficient evidence to convict the soldiers or a former alleged member of the Irish Republican Army regarding their testimony about the 1972 killings of 13 civilians by Britain’s Parachute Regiment in Derry, also known as Londonderry.
An initial investigation into the incident concluded that the soldiers were acting in self-defense against a mob of IRA bombers and gunmen. However, a 12-year-long inquiry that concluded in 2010 found that the soldiers had unjustifiably opened fire on unarmed civilians who were fleeing and then lied about it for decades.
