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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 14th,
2009 - Sergeant to Face Court-Martial in Deaths of Iraqis |
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Sergeant to Face
Court-Martial in Deaths of Iraqis By Steve Mraz Stars and Stripes January 14, 2009 Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo
will face court-martial on charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to
commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice for his role in the
alleged shooting of Iraqi detainees in 2007. Charges were referred
against Mayo, 27, on Monday, according to a 7th Army Joint Multinational
Training Command statement issued Tuesday afternoon. Formerly assigned to 1st
Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, Mayo is one
of seven charged in the alleged incident. Two have been convicted, and the
others await trial. During Mayo’s Article 32
hearing in December, soldiers who were with him and the others when the
alleged victims were detained testified that they found four Iraqi men with a
large cache of weapons, ammunition and military equipment, including
night-vision goggles, body armor, grenades, machine guns and thousands of
bullets. U.S. soldiers who allegedly
executed the four detainees in Baghdad were frustrated that dangerous
insurgents they had captured in the past were put back on the streets,
according to testimony during the hearing. A date for Mayo’s
court-martial has not been set. Two other soldiers, Master Sgt. John E.
Hatley and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr., face courts-martial for their alleged
parts in the killings. Leahy’s court-martial is scheduled to begin in
Vilseck, Germany, on Feb. 17, according to an Army document. External link: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59976 |