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| Soldier gets one year in abuse trial |
| By Combined News Services |
| Published: 05/20/2004 |
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Spc. Jeremy Sivits, the first soldier to be tried in connection with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, was sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge after an emotional trial in which he recounted in detail abuses of detainees and offered an apology. It was a plea bargain that points ahead to a summer of ugly trials of fellow soldiers who say higher command urged them to strip and humiliate captured Iraqis to make them talk. "I've let everybody down," said Sivits, of Mann's Choice, Pa., who said he owed apologies to Iraq, the Army and his family. "Sir, I'm truly sorry," he told Judge James Pohl, the Army colonel presiding at the court-martial. Pohl could have cut Sivits' pay but didn't. It was the first trial in a scandal that has shot up the chain of command to President Bush, whose administration is struggling to explain why these troops were violating the Geneva Conventions. About 150 Iraqis rallied near the makeshift military courtroom, denouncing as a whitewash the start of a judicial process that U.S. officials have said they hoped would demonstrate their resolve to punish all Americans who committed crimes in the prison and mollify widespread Arab anger. The protesters marched up traffic-clogged Shawaf Street at 11 a.m. toward the complex where the court-martial was in session. Shopkeepers and tea vendors watched as the crowd, led by drummers and a horn player, passed waving a series of banners. Aloft at the head of the column bobbed the now famous picture of Pfc. Lynndie England, an Iraqi prisoner at her feet attached to a dog leash in her hand. Under the close watch of U.S. soldiers on rooftops and checkpoints, the protesters demonstrated peacefully in an intersection at the entrance to the convention center for nearly an hour. Under military regulations, Sivits was required to explain his actions even though he made a plea deal. His emotional yet matter-of-fact descriptions of the abuse he witnessed and photographed, but failed to report, is expected to be reprised this summer as he testifies against fellow members of the 372nd Military Police Company, based in Maryland. Three soldiers from the 372nd were arraigned Wednesday. Sgt. Javal Davis, Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick and Spc. Charles Graner were charged with inmate abuse and related felonies including conspiracy. Graner also was charged with adultery. All declined to enter pleas and said they have hired civilian attorneys to augment their military-provided counselors. |
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