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| Army Sergeant to Be Tried in Grenade Attack |
| 2004-03-04 |
| The U.S. Army intends to court-martial a sergeant accused of tossing grenades into fellow service members’ tents while stationed in Kuwait. The attack killed two officers. The court-martial, expected to take place this summer, could result in the death penalty for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 32. Akbar faces two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted murder for the attack on 101st Airborne Division (search) soldiers at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait on March 23, 2003, during the early days of the Iraq war. Sounds like a firing squad offense to me. In addition to the two officers killed, 14 people were injured. Prosecutors have alleged that Akbar stole seven grenades from a Humvee he was guarding, then walked to the brigade operations area an hour later to attack the officers. An attorney for Akbar said last year that no eyewitnesses placed the soldier at the scene and that other soldiers were too quick to assume that he committed the crime because he is Muslim. The race card. (Yes I know islam is not a race - I just hope the military court doesn’t buy this ’race’ and ’profiling’ crap). The soldiers killed were Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa., and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, of Boise, Idaho. To be sentenced to death, Akbar would need to first be convicted by a unanimous verdict of the jury, then sentenced to death by a similar unanimous vote after a separate sentencing phase. The sentence would then be reviewed by an Army appeals court, a general military appeals court and, ultimately, the president before it would be carried out, said Fort Bragg spokesman Lt. Col. Billy Buckner. Akbar’s case was transferred to Fort Bragg from Fort Campbell, Ky., because most of the 101st has been in Iraq and cannot handle the case. Fort Bragg is home to the 18th Airborne Corps headquarters, which oversees the 101st and other divisions. No date has been set for the court-martial. Akbar is being held at a military prison at Fort Knox, Ky., where an arraignment is to be held next week, said Lt. Col. Jon Guden, a lawyer with the 18th Airborne Corps. Akbar is represented by two military attorneys and one civilian lawyer. He is expected to be moved to a North Carolina military prison once pretrial hearings begin at Fort Bragg, Guden said. Akbar is allowed to receive a jury trial by at least 12 soldiers, with at least four of them enlisted, as is the defendant. |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #12 I'll gladly supply the rope - or the bullets. Traitor. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-3-4 11:08:12 PM |
| #11 If it's all grown up and it's broken, you're just gonna hafta kill it. -Darwin |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-4 8:09:27 PM |
| #10 a load of MP5 goodness - LOL. a classic |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-3-4 5:59:17 PM |
| #9 The slimy little Cock-Sucker-Head will probably get life @ FL and spend the rest of his days making Dry-Sweep out of granite boulders. I remember when that shit happened, there was a lot of speculation on if he was going to make it out of Kuwait in one piece. The opening rounds had already been fired, thus putting him under a little different article under the uniform code of military justice. I would have gladly filled him up with a load of MP5 goodness, as would have all of my team mates. |
| Posted by: Bodyguard 2004-3-4 5:08:37 PM |
| #8 We could always leave it up to the Brigade to determine his punishment? Wonder what the boys/girls would pick for him? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-3-4 3:38:45 PM |
| #7 O.P. Only after covering him with a thick coat of pig fat....... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-3-4 3:29:54 PM |
| #6 O.P. Only after covering him with a thick coat if pig fat....... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-3-4 3:20:20 PM |
| #5 My vote is for a cigarrette and a blindfold - Bastard! I guess I'm just the mean, vindictive sort. I can't see how a firing squad would be appropriate. We need to give this piece of unexpunged fecal matter a last meal of expired K-rats, lock him in a concrete room without windows, and explode a couple of hand grenades in the room. Leave him there for a couple of days, then see how he is. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-3-4 2:45:44 PM |
| #4 If he get's off on the murder charges the prosecutors may refile charges of unauthorized destruction of govt property. You can rarely outflank that one if they really want you. My vote is for a cigarrette and a blindfold - Bastard! |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-3-4 2:30:55 PM |
| #3 "just hope the military court doesn’t buy this ’race’ and ’profiling’ crap" Not in a Military Court. Sgt Akbar was absent from a post and there were missing hand grenades from a vehicle he was guarding. Additionally his weapon had been fired hard to blame race on that! I bet he gets off on some psycho plea. If not BURN BABY BURN! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-3-4 1:55:01 PM |
| #2 ..Always find it interesting that when a court-martial story appears, the media mentions the part about the defendant (if enlisted) is entitled to have a certain number of enlisted on the jury. It may have just been USAF urban legend, but I was always told that if it ever happens, DON'T ask for the EMs. They would invariably be E8s and E9s, who would probably vote to have you flayed alive, whereas officers seem to be a bit more lenient. Not that this would apply in this case - Akbar deserves a firing squad. He wanted martydom for his faith, let's give it to him. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-3-4 1:43:45 PM |
| #1 funny that only the other day me and a mate were discussing this bastard and what happened to him and now i know. hope he does get the death penalty |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-4 1:33:02 PM |