Distretto Nord

Sarà pubblicato ad agosto il rapporto sulle bombe di Claudy

Claudy report ‘to be released next month’

Bomba a ClaudyTHE Police Ombudsman’s report into the 1972 Claudy atrocity will finally be released in the village next month.
Staff from the Police Ombudsman’s office have this week been contacting the families of the nine people who lost their lives, as well as those who were injured when three car bombs exploded in the quiet Co Londonderry village on July 31, 1972.

The Londonderry Sentinel reports today that the relatives and victims were this week shown a briefing document on the report.

They read it in the presence of the Ombudsman’s staff and were told that the office was aiming to publish the report on a date in mid-August.

The Police Ombudsman’s office yesterday confirmed that it is discussing a date for publication, adding: “We are aiming for mid-August [for publication].”

The Ombudsman’s investigation was first launched in 2002 following an initial probe by police, and the report was expected to be released a number of years ago.

At the centre of the investigation were claims that a Catholic priest was involved in the bombings and that a cover-up between Church and State led to him escaping justice.

Some of the victims of the Claudy bomb are unhappy at the way the release of the long-awaited report is being handled, the Sentinel has been told.

One of the people who has seen the documents shown by Ombudsman’s staff this week, but who asked not to be named, said: “The report shows that Fr James Chesney was a suspect but he was never investigated because they feared there would be more murder and mayhem as a result.

“Ridiculously, another man was suspected of involvement but his alibi was Fr Chesney. It’s amazing to think that a prime suspect could give an alibi and that it would be accepted.”

The person said that there was not much else in the report that they did not know.

”It seems incredible that this priest was able to get away with murder.”

The Ombudsman’s office yesterday confirmed the proposal to publish in August but saidl: “The summary you have been given is inaccurate and unbalanced on several counts.”

Details of the cover-up between church and state first emerged eight years ago, when police said that a search of 1972 papers threw up information “which clearly indicates that a parish priest in the South Derry area was a member of the Provisional IRA and was actively involved in the Claudy bomb”.

The police probe was sparked by a report by late Londonderry journalist and News Letter columnist Ian Starrett, who published details of a letter purporting to come from a priest who said Fr Chesney had admitted his involvement in the atrocity during conversations with him.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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