Nationalists condemn jailing of Derry man

Doherty was sentenced to three months after he refused to agree to testify to the Tribunal on grounds that he had nothing to say and that he had no faith in the inquiry getting to the truth of the killings,
Speaking to thousands of marchers at Free Derry Corner on the 33rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Sinn Fein’s Mitchel McLaughlin said the “disgraceful” jailing was “evidence of the British government’s determination to criminalize republicans rather than expose the truth of its dirty war in Ireland.
“It is a scandal,” he said, that Doherty, “who wasn’t even present at the march should be the only one to see the inside of a prison because of Bloody Sunday. We demand his immediate and unconditional release.”
He said he rejected Northern Secretary Paul Murphy’s claim that he has no powers to intervene. “Does he think that we cannot remember when British ministers intervened to release British soldiers convicted of murder here in the North?”, McLaughlin said.
On the wider issue, he said, people will be wondering if the inquiry will be different from the Widgery Tribunal, held in the immediate aftermath of the killings that largely exonerated the British army and accused the dead of being nailbombers and gunmen.
He asked if the tribunal would “look at the evidence without prejudice and come to a conclusion based solely on the evidence presented to the inquiry, or will it be like Widgery be influenced by its political masters? We will just have to wait and see.
“If the treatment of Ducksie Doherty is an indicator, then it doesn’t bode well for the outcome. But one thing is for sure, we will take our lead from the decision of the families and support them in whatever avenue they decide to travel”, said McLaughlin.
Dominic Bradley of the SDLP also asked if the inquiry would uncover the full truth of Bloody Sunday.
“People are increasingly fearful that it will fall short of that standard,” he said. “And when a Derryman, Martin Doherty, is the only person to serve a prison sentence over Bloody Sunday, those fears are exacerbated and amplified. But in spite of all the doubts, one thing remains clear: the campaign will carry on until truth is served and justice is done.”