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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 7th,
2009 - US Soldier Referred to Court-Martial |
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US Soldier Referred to Court-Martial From the Associated Press January 7, 2009 Frankfurt, Germany - A U.S.
soldier charged with murder in the deaths of four bound and blindfolded
Iraqis will be court-martialed, the U.S. Army said Wednesday. Sgt. John E. Hatley was
charged in September with one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to
commit murder and one count of obstruction of justice in the killing of four
Iraqi men who were found bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a Baghdad
canal in April 2007. A message seeking comment
from his lawyer was not immediately returned. The 7th U.S. Army Joint
Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr said that a date for the
court-martial had not been set. In previous Article 32
hearings, Army prosecutors said the four men were killed in retribution for
casualties suffered by Hatley's unit. The victims' names have not been
released. So far, six of seven
soldiers implicated in the case have faced a military court judge. All the soldiers involved
were with the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 1st
Infantry Division in Iraq, which is now part of the Germany-based 172nd
Infantry Brigade. Hatley also faces additional
charges of murder for a separate incident in January 2007. The Army has not
provided details of that incident. Copyright © 2009 The Associated
Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYtcV7GUHRC88uGXnQ8Hl6I5lvbAD95IDS4O0 |