A judge in Belfast ruled on Friday that the murder trial of a former British soldier will go ahead. The defendant, Soldier F, pleaded not guilty to the murder of two Irish men and attempted murder of five others during the disturbances known as “Bloody Sunday” that took place in Northern Ireland in 1972.

Soldier F’s lawyers sought to argue that there was insufficient evidence to try Soldier F for the murders. The prosecution insisted that Soldier F was one of the British soldiers in Bogside, Derry, on the day of the disturbance and that he opened fire against Irish civilians. Justice Stephen Fowler held that the defence had failed to establish that the evidence against Soldier F was tenuous, allowing the trial to commence within the next year.

One concession made by Justice Fowler to Soldier F was to allow him to sit behind a floor-to-ceiling thick blue curtain, as described by reporters. This curtain is used in order to conceal the identity of Soldier F, who Justice Fowler held would be a “prized target” for Irish Republicans to attack was his identity revealed.

“Bloody Sunday” refers to a violent attack by British paratroopers on civil rights protestors in the neighbourhood of Bogside, which is just outside Derry. On the morning of the attack, the 30th of January 1972, over 15,000 people gathered to take part in the march. During the march, Irish protestors threw rocks at the British paratroopers, who initially responded by shooting protestors with rubber bullets, using tear gas and water cannons against them, and arresting many protestors. A few minutes later, the British paratroopers opened fire on the protestors, shooting approximately 108 live rounds into the crowd. 13 men were killed immediately, another 14 were injured, and another man was hospitalised for his injuries and died four months later.

Initially, the British government denied the fault of British soldiers through an investigation by the Widgery Tribunal, holding that the paratroopers had been fired at first by the Irish civilians. In 2010, however, the results of a new inquiry by the British government affirmed that the attack of the British paratroopers had been unprovoked and unjustified.