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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 28th,
2009 - Relatives of Slain Iraqis Confront Killer in Court News article from the Associated
Press |
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Relatives of
Slain Iraqis Confront Killer in Court By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press May 28, 2009 Louisville, Ky. - With tears
streaming down their faces, relatives of a murdered Iraqi family confronted
the killer Thursday in an American courtroom and said he deserved to die, as
the ex-soldier convicted of rape and murder apologized and said he will face
"God's justice." In a hearing that turned
emotional at times, surviving members of the al-Janabi family gestured and
questioned former Pfc. Steven Dale Green, convicted earlier this month of
killing four people in Iraq. Hajia al-Janabi, the grandmother
of two victims, tried to approach Green at the defense table. As federal
marshals led her back to the gallery, she shouted: "I just want to see
him. I just want to see him. You have no mercy." Green, speaking publicly for
the first time since his arrest nearly three years ago, told his victims'
relatives that he will face "God's justice" after spending the rest
of his life in prison. The statement came as part of a sentencing hearing for
Green, 24, of Midland, Texas. The remainder of the hearing and formal
sentencing are scheduled for Sept. 4. Green, dressed in a
black-and-white striped prison uniform and shackled at the legs, faced the
family and referred to the killings as "evil." "When I die, I'll be in
God's hands," Green said. "In the kingdom of God, there will be
justice and whatever I deserve, I'll get." A civilian jury convicted
Green on May 7 of multiple counts, including conspiracy, rape and murder in
the March 12, 2006, killings of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi and her father,
mother and 6-year-old sister near Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about 20 miles south of
Baghdad. The jury failed to agree on
a sentence for Green, meaning he automatically receives life imprisonment
without parole. He could have been sentenced to death. During his nearly four-week
trial, witnesses described how Green and three other soldiers went to the
al-Janabi home, where Green shot Abeer's father, Kassem, her mother,
Fahkriya, and her younger sister, Hadeel, while two soldiers raped Abeer in
the next room. After shooting the family
members, Green became the third soldier to rape Abeer before shooting her in
the head. Her body was lit on fire. Thursday's hearing normally
would have been part of Green's formal sentencing later. But U.S. District
Judge Thomas B. Russell allowed the al-Janabi family to speak to the court
and Green without having to make another trip from Iraq. Five members of the
al-Janabi family condemned Green for the slayings, calling him a dog, a
coward and a criminal. Several said Green should have received a death
sentence. "You are a bad stigma
on your whole family," Ameena Hamza Rashid al-Janabi, Kassem al-Janabi's
sister, said through an interpreter. "You are a stigma on your family
and all your relations." Two surviving sons, Mohammed
al-Janabi and Ahmed al-Janabi, said they didn't understand why Green killed
their parents and sisters. "If my father was a
terrorist, he would not have lived where the Americans were,"
15-year-old Mohammed said through an interpreter. "Why did he kill my
family?" Mohammed, given a chance to
address Green directly, stared at him for a few seconds, then declined to say
anything. Ahmed, whose age wasn't
given, said his father was an innocent man who was enjoying time with family
the day of the killings. "I swear by God my
father didn't do anything, didn't do anything," Ahmed said. Mahdi al-Janabi, a family
cousin who also goes by the name Abu Farras, referred to Green as a monster
and said the jury should have imposed a death sentence. "Abeer will follow you
and chase you in your nightmares," he said. "May God damn
you." Green reading from a written
statement, told the family he didn't go to Iraq intent on killing civilians
and wishes "I could take it back and I can't." Green then
apologized to Mohammed and Ahmed. "I know what I did left
a hole in their lives and scars on their minds," Green said. "And,
there's no making up for that." Green had been assigned to
the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division. He was discharged from
the Army in May 2006 with a personality disorder. Because he was arrested
after being discharged, he was tried in civilian court. Three other soldiers are
serving extended sentences in military prison after being convicted or
pleading guilty in courts martial. Those soldiers will be eligible for
parole. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYeOUInDxFuT4T8CsYG9-_KfQ9pgD98FCKL82 Iraqi woman has to be
restrained from Green in court By Andrew Wolfson Louisville Courier-Journal May 28, 2009 After denouncing former Army
Pvt. Steven Dale Green as a coward, a criminal and a "stigma on the
United States,” the sobbing matriarch of the family he killed in Iraq lunged
at the defendant as she left the witness stand and had to be restrained by a
half-dozen court security officers. Wailing and swearing at
Green, dress in traditional black Hajib, her head covered, Hajia Al-Janabi
then collapsed on the floor of the courtroom, where she continued to denounce
Green until she was finally quieted by federal marshals and U.S. District Judge
Thomas Russell. After four family members
testified at a victim-impact hearing about the horrors Green had inflicted on
the family - which they said he should have died for, Green apologized to the
family for his crimes. He added that he realized they would never forgive
him. “I am truly sorry for what I
did in Iraq,” he said, his remarks translated for the family by an
interpreter. “I helped to destroy the lives of four fellow human beings.” Green said he went to Iraq
to help people, but after seeing so many of his fellow soldiers killed, “I
can only say something happened to me and I lost my mind. I stopped seeing
Iraqis as men and women and children and began to see them all as evil.” But one of the family
members, Mahdi Al-Janabi, insisted on returning to the witness stand, where
he assailed Green’s claim that he lost the ability to distinguish between
Iraqi civilians and terrorists. “We do not accept your
apology at all,” he said. Russell said he will
consider the family’s remarks when he sentences Green, although under federal
law, the judge has no choice to impose a sentence of life without the
possibility of release because a jury earlier this month said it couldn’t
decide whether to give Green life or the death penalty. Green's sentencing is scheduled
for Sept. 4. After deliberating over two
days, a jury in Paducah last Friday was unable to reach a unanimous verdict
on whether Green, 24, should be sentenced to death. External link: http://tinyurl.com/l9pwys |