Kenny Dalglish, 96 Victims of Hillsborough Disaster Awarded Freedom of Liverpool

The 96 people who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster and former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish are to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.

Per BBC News, the Right Reverend James Jones, Professor Phil Scraton and Marina Dalglish will also receive the city's highest honour following the recent result of the inquest into the 1989 tragedy at the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield, which ruled the victims were "unlawfully killed."

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson paid tribute to all the recipients in his announcement, per the Liverpool Echo's Eleanor Barlow:

"

The fight for truth and justice over the last 27 years has involved many people, not least the families of the 96 who we honoured with the Freedom of the City back in 2009.

Today we are announcing that we want to bestow the honour on those who died, together with a number of people who have played a pivotal role over many, many years - not just in the Hillsborough campaign, but who, through their actions, have enhanced the life of the city as well.

It has needed tremendous diligence and persistence to demolish the wall of lies that was cruelly created by the establishment to deflect blame for the tragedy away from those that were really responsible.

The individuals we will be honouring have played a crucial role in righting of the biggest wrongs seen in recent British history.

We are also, in truly exceptional circumstances, posthumously awarding the Freedom of the City to the 96 innocent people who the whole world now knows paid the ultimate price for the failings and actions of others, and who have been disgracefully smeared over many years.

"

Hillsborough's 96 victims will be the first ever posthumous recipients of the honour, while each of those honoured will also "receive a specially commissioned medal together with the traditional scroll," per Barlow.

Dalglish was the manager of Liverpool at the time of the disaster and ensured that the Anfield club was represented at every one of the victims' funerals, attending many of them himself with wife Marina.

The Right Reverend Jones, former Bishop of Liverpool, led the Hillsborough Independent Panel that played such a huge part in revealing what actually happened during the disaster, while Professor Scraton led the panel's research team.

The latter's book, Hillsborough: The Truth, is also "widely accepted as the definitive account of the disaster," per BBC News.