[JURIST] The longest and most expensive public investigation in British legal history entered its final phase Monday with lawyer Christopher Clarke beginning a two-day closing speech intended to provide an overview of the evidence heard by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. British Prime Minister Tony Blair established the inquiry in 1998 to investigate the 1972 killing by British paratroopers of 14 unarmed civil rights marchers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after the Irish government in 1997 produced new evidence that cast doubts on the conduct of the Widgery tribunal (chaired by the then-British chief justice) established at the time of the incident. Clarke said Monday that even the most fundamental questions, including who shot the protestors, remain unanswered. The inquiry, which has cost the British public more than £150 million, has heard from more than 900 witnesses in 432 days of testimony and has taken over 1,500 written statements. A final report is expected next summer. Monday's Guardian has more and BBC News has additional coverage of Clarke's summary of the evidence.
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