The new inquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings had "deliberately chosen" to expose former British soldiers "to a risk of injury or death" by refusing them anonymity when they give evidence, the High Court in London was told yesterday. That was probably "unique in the annals of British justice," said Mr Ian Burnett QC, appearing for the British Ministry of Defence.
He told three judges the ministry was giving its "unequivocal support" to a legal move for anonymity by 17 soldiers who fired live rounds in Derry on Sunday, January 30th, 1972, in a clash which resulted in the deaths of 14 civilians.
The inquiry tribunal, chaired by Lord Saville, ruled in May this year that there was "no good or sufficient reason" why the soldiers, mostly retired members of the Parachute Regiment, should not be named, unless individuals could show "special circumstances".
The need for a "thorough and open search for truth" outweighed the arguments in favour of anonymity, said the tribunal.
Arguing that the decision was "unsustainable", Mr Burnett said yesterday: "If the possibility of being killed is no good or sufficient reason, one wonders what might be." The tribunal's second ruling came as a stunning blow to the soldiers, four of whom had won an earlier High Court battle forcing the tribunal to reconsider its decision last December to give the soldiers partial anonymity by requiring them to reveal only their surnames.
Mr Christopher Clarke QC, appearing for the inquiry, told the court that the decision it had made "was one fully open to it - difficult though it was to make".
Mr Sydney Kentridge QC, for the soldiers, condemned the decision to "whip away" the anonymity the men had enjoyed since the 1972 Widgery Inquiry into Bloody Sunday as "irrational and cavalier".
He told Lord Justice Roch, sitting in London with Mr Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Hooper, that it could expose the men to revenge attacks as the "terrible events" of over a quarter of a century ago were relived at the new inquiry, due to begin its hearings next September.
The men fear that they and their families could be targeted by people out to avenge the Derry deaths.
The hearing follows reports yesterday that the names of several senior soldiers have already accidentally been divulged to representatives of the victims' families.
Mr Kentridge accused the tribunal of "going badly wrong" and acting "so unreasonably as to require its ruling to be set aside". He said, a quarter of a century later, Bloody Sunday had remained "a matter of urgent public importance" which had led to the fresh inquiry following dissatisfaction over the original 1972 Widgery Inquiry.
Feelings had died down over the 27 years that had passed. But the tribunal seemed to ignore completely the obvious likelihood that the rehearsing in public of "these terrible events" might result in feelings again running high in Northern Ireland.
Mr Kentridge said: "One isn't talking about particular relatives or dissident organisations, but we know there are unreconciled elements who still have the ability of making attacks on soldiers in Great Britain."
The issue of anonymity was vital. The case was "about human life and the potential danger to life - the life of each soldier and the lives of his family members". Mr Kentridge said the Saville Inquiry accepted the men's fears for their lives were genuine and reasonable when it decided last December to allow them a limited form of protection in that only their surnames would be published.
The new decision in May was "irrational and unreasonable". At the time it was made, the security services put the risk to the soldiers higher than it had been previously.
He said all 17 soldiers - 16 of whom are now retired - would give their evidence in public without screens or masks to hide their identities. All except three were members of the Parachute Regiment, and had fired one or more live rounds on Bloody Sunday. He said none of the 17 had threatened to refuse to appear at the inquiry, as had been claimed in newspaper articles.
The court also heard that there had been anger over an "insidious and sustained newspaper campaign" to keep the soldiers' identities anonymous. Mr Michael Mansfield QC, appearing for three of the families of Bloody Sunday victims, said the campaign amounted to contempt of court because its aim was to "impede the stream of justice" and asked the court to investigate the issue.
The hearing was adjourned until today.