Loyalist activist reports SDLP leader to parliamentary standards watchdog

Jamie Bryson raised a complaint against Colum Eastwood, accusing the Foyle MP of seeking to ‘place himself above the law’.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said he was not surprised by the complaint (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has been reported to Parliament’s standards watchdog after he said he would not take part in a criminal investigation into an alleged unnotified parade involving the Bloody Sunday families.

The complaint has been raised by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson who accused Mr Eastwood of seeking to “place himself above the law”.

But the SDLP leader told the PA news agency that nothing would stop him standing with the Bloody Sunday families in their campaign for justice.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has confirmed that it has received a file from the Police Service of Northern Ireland reporting seven individuals over the incident.

Last month, Mr Eastwood, the MP for Foyle, walked out of Strand Road police station in Londonderry after being asked to attend an interview under caution.

Police are investigating a complaint made by Mr Bryson in relation to an event on August 25, which saw members of the Bloody Sunday families walking together to Bishop Street Courthouse in Londonderry for a hearing in relation to the prosecution of Soldier F.

At issue in the investigation is whether the August event fell under legislation in Northern Ireland that requires organisers of public processions to give advance notice to the Parades Commission. It is an offence to organise or participate in an unnotified parade or related protest.

Mr Eastwood said he had attended the PSNI station last month to inform officers that no Bloody Sunday families would be taking part in the investigation.

He said he waited for 20 minutes but had not been interviewed and branded the situation a “total and utter farce”, adding that he would not be partaking in the investigation any further.

At the time, the SDLP leader said if the police wanted to arrest him, they knew his address.

Mr Bryson confirmed he had now complained to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg.

He said: “Mr Eastwood has sought to place himself above the law, and it could be argued has interfered to an impermissible level in an ongoing criminal investigation, in which he is himself a self-identified suspect.

(Mr Eastwood's) case appears to be that because the cause for which he marched was legitimate, that the law ought not to apply to him and his fellow marchers. That is a bizarre proposition

Jamie Bryson

“Parading law has been rigorously applied to the unionist and loyalist community; indeed I was held in prison in 2013 for precisely the same offence as that alleged against Mr Eastwood.

“Therefore, equality under the law requires that the same rigour is applied to all citizens.

“There is no exemption in the law for those who self-perceive themselves as having a legitimate cause, the only exemptions are funerals and the Salvation Army, neither of which avails Mr Eastwood.

“His case appears to be that because the cause for which he marched was legitimate, that the law ought not to apply to him and his fellow marchers. That is a bizarre proposition.”

I’ve been clear that there is nothing that will ever stop me from standing with the Bloody Sunday families in their campaign for justice

Colum Eastwood MP

Mr Bryson added: “This is not, and has never been, about the Bloody Sunday families who are entitled to pursue what they see as justice through the prism of their view of contentious legacy matters.

“The criminal complaint is about the equal application of the law.”

Mr Bryson said he believed the SDLP leader was in breach of the House of Commons code of conduct.

Mr Eastwood responded: “I’ve been clear that there is nothing that will ever stop me from standing with the Bloody Sunday families in their campaign for justice.

The police investigation has concluded, and a file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service on Wednesday January 3 2024. It would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time

PSNI

“These are people who had their loved ones murdered, their names blackened and justice denied for more than 50 years.

“They have, and will always have, my full support.”

Mr Eastwood said he was not surprised by the complaint, adding “everybody can see this for what it is”.

A PPS spokesperson said: “We received an investigation file from police on 3rd January 2024 reporting seven individuals in relation to an alleged incident in Londonderry on 25th August 2023.

“A decision will issue as quickly as possible.”

A PSNI spokeswoman added: “The police investigation has concluded, and a file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service on Wednesday January 3 2024.

“It would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time.”

Mr Eastwood’s lawyer had previously said that police were looking to speak to a number of relatives of Bloody Sunday victims after they walked to the court last year.

Soldier F, a former paratrooper who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Derry in 1972 in an event known as Bloody Sunday.

He is also charged with five attempted murders.

Regarded as one of the darkest days of the Troubles, 13 people were killed on Bloody Sunday and another man shot by paratroopers died four months later.

Many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday but his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.