SOLDIER’S DAMNING LETTER EVERY MP MUST READ
Hero demands Ulster veteran amnesty
GOVERNMENT officials were yesterday told to “hang your heads in shame” over the ongoing “witch-hunt” against Northern Ireland veterans.
A former Welsh Guardsman – who asked not to be named because of the continuing
Republican threat – graphically contrasted the rules under which the Army had to operate with the lawless terror campaign waged by the IRA.
He told the Daily Express how he witnessed the aftermath of IRA atrocities, saw the remains of his comrades scraped off the streets and was wounded serving of his country.
The 69-year-old has written to the Prime Minister as four British veterans face trial over deaths dating back as far as 1972, despite being cleared of wrongdoing at the time.
Another 278 cases are understood to be under investigation.
But under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, more than 500 terrorists were released early and 300 on-the-run letters were issued to suspects, telling them they would not be pursued.
In his letter to Mrs May, the ex-lance sergeant who served in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, wrote: “This whole mockery of so-called justice is a disgrace and you should hang your heads in shame for allowing it.
“It is time for the Prime Minister of this country WE served to put an end to this witch-hunt and also pardon ALL British soldiers from any prosecution just like you did for the IRA. The consequences of failing to
do so will be dire, not only for the soldiers accused but for the sitting Government of the day.
“I, and the thousands of other British veterans who served in Operation Banner, want OUR ‘letter of pardon’ also.”
He added: “You have legal teams investigating old soldiers now in their 70s for such incomprehensible things such as, ‘Did you shout a warning before you opened fire?’
“The IRA did not apply these same rule. They didn’t have to. They were lawless. If a member of the IRA was arrested he/she had to be treated under the law as if he were just a normal criminal and they had ALL the privileges when arrested as if he were just a shoplifter – free lawyers, legal advice, privileges etc.”
The letter points out captured British soldiers “were ALL brutally executed after being tortured and violently beaten”.
The Northern Ireland Office has recently closed a consultation on how to deal with the legacy killings and is expected to report in the New Year. Mrs May has already told MPs that the current balance of investigations in relation to the Troubles is “patently unfair”.
The soldier, from the Northwest, was backed by ex-Armed Forces minister Mark Francois, who plans to read the letter out on the floor of the Commons.
He said: “It is a warts-and-all account of the stark reality of fighting the IRA at close quarters day after day.
“I can only hope officials in the Northern Ireland Office in their air-conditioned offices will take the trouble to read it and will then consult their consciences about why they continue to sell our servicemen down the river while pandering to Sinn Fein/IRA.”
Mr Francois also cited Royal Marine David Griffin, 77, now a Chelsea Pensioner, who has lived under the threat of a murder charge for six years over an ambush of suspected IRA terrorists in Belfast in 1972.
The MP said: “What has gone wrong with this country whereby we give alleged terrorists letters of comfort and get-out-of-jailfree cards and we go after Chelsea Pensioners instead?”
Dennis Hutchings, 77, of Cornwall, is to stand trial over a shooting in Northern Ireland in 1974 despite having been cleared by two probes and in very poor health. He said: “This letter
should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country.
“Mistakes are made in any job but to make veterans go through what we are going through is a total betrayal.”
Ex-Grenadier Guardsman Alan Barry, who founded Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans, said: “Sinn Fein is trying to brainwash today’s young that the Army were the bad guys and their so-called freedom fighters were the good guys.
“It is like Islamic State’s slick propaganda campaign.”
The letter follows a demonstration by veterans in Glasgow led by former Royal Military Police officer Suzanne Fernando, who described the prosecutions as a “disgrace and a betrayal”.
Yesterday, a veteran who served in Belfast in 1978 said: “They call it The Troubles but it was a full-blown war. Tony Blair let the IRA out in the Good Friday Agreement but now they are picking on elderly soldiers. It is a witch-hunt.”
A Government spokesman said: “The current system in Northern Ireland isn’t working well, not for soldiers, police officers and not for victims.
“This needs to change to ensure our Armed Forces and police officers are not unfairly treated.”