A judge issued a ruling today in the case of seven British soldiers accused of mistreating Iraqi civilians, but he ordered the verdict not be reported until it is read to a military board of officers acting as a jury.
Justice Stuart McKinnon deliberated dismissing or modifying charges against the men, who were tried for allegedly mistreating Iraqis, including a hotel worker who died while in custody. Three of the soldiers were charged with the war crime of inhumane treatment of prisoners.
McKinnon was expected to read his verdict to the jury Wednesday. Parts of his ruling issued Tuesday could be considered prejudicial to some of the defendants if the charges remain and the court-martial continues at the army base, 85 miles southwest of London.
The case has tarnished the image of Britain's military with accusations of war crimes. One of the defendants, Cpl. Donald Payne, 35, pleaded guilty to the charge of inhumanely treating Iraqi civilians, making him the first British soldier to plead guilty to a war crime under international law.
The detainees allegedly were handcuffed, hooded, deprived of sleep and held in stress positions in extreme heat at a British army barracks near the southern Iraqi city of Basra in September 2003.
The prosecution said Iraqi Baha Mousa, 26, died after Payne kneeled on his back to restrain him. Payne has pleaded innocent to manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.
Payne's six co-defendants all have pleaded innocent to the charges against them. Lance Cpl. Wayne Ashley Crowcroft, 22, and Pvt. Darren Trevor Fallon, 23, also face the charge of inhumanely treating detainees. The other four defendants face lesser charges.
Prosecutor Julian Bevan told the court that the defendants suspected the Iraqi detainees had been involved in the slaying of six British military police officers in August 2003 and the death of a soldier in a bombing on a military ambulance in Basra.
Iraqi Ahmad Taha Musa al-Matairi testified the defendants laughed as they beat one of the detainees in a sweltering detention facility and took bets on which soldier could knock him down first. The detainees were held for 48 hours before being released without charge.
Al-Matairi said he was detained because he was part-owner of the hotel suspected of being an insurgent base. Soldiers allegedly found rifles, ammunition, grenades and timers as well as forged identity documents and money.
Sgt. Kelvin Lee Stacey, 29, is charged with common assault.
Warrant Officer Mark Lester Davies, 37, Maj. Michael Edwin Peebles, 35, and Col. Jorge Emmanuel Mendonca, 42, are all charged with negligently performing their duties.
AP