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Military hearing set for Lynndie England
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-04 02:00
Earlier this year, a petite, mop-topped soldier became a central figure in
the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that shocked the world when she turned up in
numerous photographs, smiling and giving the thumbs-up in the presence of naked,
hooded Iraqi detainees.
Lynndie England (C)
arrives with her legal council in Fayetteville, NC for her Article 32
investigation hearing. England is charged with several counts, including
one of conspiring to commit maltreatment of an Iraqi detainee, three
counts of assault against Iraqis, and several others.
[AFP] | A military hearing was set to start
Tuesday that will begin gathering evidence to see if Pfc. Lynndie England should
be court-martialed for her actions. The Article 32 hearing is the military
equivalent of a grand jury in civilian court.
The hearing will be the first chance in court for the 21-year-old Army
reservist's attorneys to make their case that she was following orders from
higher-ups when she was photographed mocking naked detainees at Abu Ghraib.
Witnesses on a list the defense released earlier this year included Vice
President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
top generals, although military officials say it is doubtful they will appear.
Other witnesses may be called by telephone from Iraq (news - web sites).
Lynndie England (L), the military police officer who became
the public face of inmate abuse at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, arrives
with her attorney Kristin Didonato at a hearing to determine if she will
be tried on charges ranging from prisoner abuse to committing indecent
acts in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, August 3, 2004.
[Reuters] |
England, from Fort Ashby, W.Va.,
is seen smiling for the camera in one picture, cigarette in her mouth, as she
leans forward and points at the genitals of a naked, hooded Iraqi. Another photo
shows her holding a leash that encircles the neck of a naked Iraqi man lying on
his side on a cellblock floor, his face contorted.
England is charged with 13 counts of abusing detainees and six counts
stemming from possession of sexually explicit photos which the Army has said do
not depict Iraqis. The maximum possible sentence is 38 years in prison.
England is one of seven reservists from the Cresaptown, Md.-based 372nd
Military Police Company who have been charged in the scandal. One, Spc. Jeremy
C. Sivits, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to a year in prison.
"The government has leveled their sights on Ms. England," civilian defense
lawyer Rhidian Orr said last week. "I feel that the U.S. government is taking
full control of the issue and attacking Ms. England when she's not necessarily
to blame."
More than 100 members of the company returned to America and were reunited
with their families Monday at the Fort Lee Army base in Petersburg, Va. The unit
was called up in February 2003 and mobilized at Fort Lee three months later.
Spec. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35, another soldier in England's unit, also has
been charged with abuses and was involved in a romantic relationship with
England; he faces adultery charges for allegedly having sex with England last
October. She was visibly pregnant in court last month, and her lawyers have said
the child is Graner's.
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