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Pericolo elezioni per il rapporto Saville sul Bloody Sunday

Election fear over Saville Report

Shaun WoodwardA report into the Bloody Sunday killings could languish in a warehouse for weeks if a general election is called, the Northern Ireland Secretary has warned.

Shaun Woodward promised he would only take about two weeks to consider the mammoth document but said nobody knew when the Prime Minister would call an election. It is expected in May or June.

He told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs the election raised security concerns about possible leaks and added people’s lives could be endangered if highly sensitive personal details were released.

“Where it is the case that the report is delivered and there’s not a parliament to publish the report as an address the report then sits in electronic and in physical form in a warehouse for what might be weeks so I am genuinely concerned.

“But I am also concerned not just about legitimate leaks but those leaks which actually of course are not based on the report at all but are wild speculation dressed up as leaks to which people might be highly anxious, soldiers, families, but to which it will be impossible to give any response,” he said.

The result of the probe into the deaths of 14 civil rights protesters at the hands of soldiers in Londonderry in 1972 is due to be delivered to the Government during the week of March 22. It is expected to run to 5,000 pages.

The families of people killed on Bloody Sunday have criticised the Northern Ireland Secretary for failing to let them know when they will receive the Saville Report.

They fear it could be amended or have parts withheld by Government agencies. The £200 million inquiry began in 2000 but its final report has been repeatedly delayed.

Mr Woodward said Lord Saville had refused him an electronic copy of the dossier in advance of its conclusions being finalised. He added the judge had sought information about when an election was likely to be called.

“It is important for the families and the committee and the soldiers to actually consider that if Lord Saville is unable to confirm his timings…it would be wholly unreasonable and unprecedented to expect that when the Prime Minister decides to call an election he is going to share that with a judge before he has spoken to parliament,” he added.

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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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