Liverpool unites for Hillsborough tribute

LIVERPOOL: Thousands of sympathisers came together in Liverpool on Wednesday for an emotional vigil commemorating the 96 Hillsborough disaster victims after a landmark inquest found – 27 years on – that they were unlawfully killed.
Liverpudlians packed their city centre to remember those killed in the 1989 football stadium disaster and to pay tribute to the near three-decade justice campaign waged by their relatives.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson told the rally that the bereaved families were an inspiration to people fighting injustice worldwide.
"The truth was that your loved ones died by the incompetence of those in charge and then they disgracefully tried, the whole establishment, to create a conspiracy which lay the blame at the door of our fans," he said.
"But the truth has triumphed and a jury in a court of law has said yes, your loved ones were unlawfully killed, and no, the fans were not to blame."
In a poignant moment for Liverpool, a jury found Tuesday that police blunders caused the fatal crush at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, following two years of evidence in the longest inquest in British history.
Emotional rally
On Wednesday, the crowd in central Liverpool cheered loudly and chanted "Justice for the 96" as the bereaved families came outside onto the steps of city landmark St George's Hall.
The families held up scarves reading "Justice".
Ninety-six youth representatives from the city's two football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, each laid a red rose, as In My Life by The Beatles – a Liverpool band – played in the background.
Members of parliament read out the names of the victims. Of the 96 people killed in the disaster, 38 were aged under 19.
People wiped away tears as the event concluded with people holding up their football scarves for an emotion-filled rendition of the Liverpool Football Club anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Relatives of the dead welcomed the suspension of South Yorkshire's police chief after the inquest found the force's blunders were chiefly responsible for the disaster.
South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings, the elected official in charge of policing in the county, said he had suspended David Crompton "based on the erosion of public trust and confidence" in the force.
Leading Hillsborough justice campaigner Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the disaster, told the crowd in Liverpool that it had been a "hard, hard 27 years".
"The police force of South Yorkshire ought to be ashamed of themselves," she said.
"They put the families through hell and torture through all of these years.
"We will make sure that the people pay the price in whatever way with accountability for what they caused this city."
Criminal probes
Two criminal investigations into the disaster should conclude by the end of the year and prosecutors will then consider whether charges can be brought.
One probe is looking at the lead-up to the tragedy and the day of the match itself. The second is investigating an alleged cover-up attempt afterwards.
Possible offences included gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the course of justice and perjury, interior minister Theresa May told parliament in London.
The inquest heard evidence of how the police – at the height of English football hooliganism – tried to minimise their role in the tragedy.
There is set to be a particular focus on the role of David Duckenfield, the officer in charge of policing Hillsborough on the day of the disaster.
He ordered the opening of a perimeter gate to relieve pressure outside the ground. That enabled 2,000 fans to surge into already over-full terracing pens, causing the fatal crush.
In parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron said the families' search for justice had been met with "obfuscation and hostility instead of sympathy and answers".
"This whole process took far too long," he said.
In Liverpool, Mayor Anderson said the families had overturned "the biggest miscarriage of justice this country has ever seen".
He said Liverpool was "a city united and able to be at peace at last.
"Truth and justice has finally prevailed" for the victims, he said.
"Ninety-six innocents can now rest in peace." — AFP