US officer convicted in Iraq abuse trial
US officer found guilty of disobedience in the abuse scandal which at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail in 2004.
By Agencies |
MARYLAND: The only US officer tried over the abuse scandal at Baghdad's infamous Abu Ghraib jail has been cleared of mistreating prisoners there, but found guilty of disobedience in its wake.
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, 51, is the only US officer charged in the abuse scandal which emerged in 2004 when photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being tormented by grinning US troops circulated around the world.
Jordan now faces sentencing for disobeying an order not to discuss the scandal with other people, when he sent two emails about it to a colleague in spring 2004.
The offense carries a possible five-year jail term, but prosecutors at the court martial at the Fort Meade military base near Washington did not call yesterday for this to be applied. Jordan's lawyers asked for him to be spared any punishment.
He was acquitted meanwhile on three other charges of mistreating prisoners, including allegations he had stripped them and threatened them with attack dogs, and dereliction of duty.
Jordan, an army reservist, had pleaded not guilty to all four charges, with defense lawyers arguing that he had not been present when the abuses occurred and had no direct authority over the interrogations which happened at the jail.
The prosecution had sought to argue that Jordan, who was in charge of the interrogation unit, had fostered the atmosphere allowing such abuses to happen.
"This case is not about what Lieutenant Colonel Jordan did in Abu Ghraib. It's about what he divorced himself from doing," said prosecutor Colonel John Tracy during the hearing.
Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, 51, is the only US officer charged in the abuse scandal which emerged in 2004 when photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being tormented by grinning US troops circulated around the world.
Jordan now faces sentencing for disobeying an order not to discuss the scandal with other people, when he sent two emails about it to a colleague in spring 2004.
The offense carries a possible five-year jail term, but prosecutors at the court martial at the Fort Meade military base near Washington did not call yesterday for this to be applied. Jordan's lawyers asked for him to be spared any punishment.
He was acquitted meanwhile on three other charges of mistreating prisoners, including allegations he had stripped them and threatened them with attack dogs, and dereliction of duty.
Jordan, an army reservist, had pleaded not guilty to all four charges, with defense lawyers arguing that he had not been present when the abuses occurred and had no direct authority over the interrogations which happened at the jail.
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The prosecution had sought to argue that Jordan, who was in charge of the interrogation unit, had fostered the atmosphere allowing such abuses to happen.
"This case is not about what Lieutenant Colonel Jordan did in Abu Ghraib. It's about what he divorced himself from doing," said prosecutor Colonel John Tracy during the hearing.
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