| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Marine cleared of Iraqi prisoner's murder |
| 2009-09-29 |
| MURDER charges against a US Marine accused of slaying an unarmed Iraqi prisoner in Fallujah in 2004 were dismissed today, a military spokesman confirmed. A spokesman at the US Marines Camp Pendleton base outside San Diego said a charge of unpremeditated murder against Jermaine Nelson was dismissed after the 28-year-old sergeant pleaded not guilty. Nelson admitted one count of dereliction of duty. Sentencing is to be decided later, the spokesman said. Nelson was the last of three Marines to face charges in connection with the case, which related to the death of Iraqi detainees during fierce fighting in Fallujah five years ago. Another Marine, Ryan Weemer, was cleared at a court martial earlier this year, while a former soldier, Jose Nazario, was tried and acquitted of manslaughter by a civilian court in 2008. The case came to light in 2006 when Weemer told a US Secret Service agent during a job interview he had been involved in an unlawful killing in Iraq. The admission triggered an investigation that led to charges against Weemer, Nazario and Nelson. Prosecutors said the Marines had killed four detainees rather than process them as prisoners. During Weemer's court martial his lawyers said he had shot the prisoner during a "life and death struggle" when the detainee lunged for a weapon. At Nazario's trial, prosecutors alleged the soldier had shot dead two captives himself before ordering two subordinates to kill the others. However the prosecution's case was weakened after Nelson and Weemer refused to testify and were declared in contempt of court. |
| Posted by:tipper |