US: Charles Graner Jr, the army reservist shown smiling in photos beside naked Iraqi prisoners, was sentenced to 10 years in military prison after telling jurors he was ordered to abuse detainees and "didn't enjoy what I did there".
Graner, labelled the leader of a band of rogue guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, could have received 15 years behind bars in the first court-martial stemming from the scandal. Asked if he felt remorse after the sentence was handed down, Graner said: "There's a war on. Bad things happen." He will be dishonourably discharged when his sentence is served. He was also demoted to private and ordered to forfeit pay and benefits.
Graner was accused of stacking naked prisoners in a human pyramid and later ordering them to masturbate while other soldiers took photographs. He also allegedly punched one man in the head hard enough to knock him out, and struck an injured prisoner with a metal stick. He was shown in one photo giving a thumbs-up sign next to a dead body packed in ice.
Defence lawyer Mr Guy Womack said his client and the six other Abu Ghraib guards charged with abuses were being scapegoated.
"I firmly believe there should have been reasonable doubt, but we respect their decision," he said outside the courthouse.
Prosecutors Maj Michael Holley and Capt Chris Graveline would not speak to reporters, but they said in a joint statement: "We think it is important that the world was able to observe this court-martial."
Under military court rules, Graner's case will be automatically appealed to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. He could also request clemency from his commanding general.
Graner did not testify during his trial, but during the sentencing phase he took the witness stand to repeat the defence claim that he had been ordered by intelligence agents at Abu Ghraib to abuse the prisoners to make them easier to interrogate.
Womack asked him why he was smiling in the infamous photos from Abu Ghraib. "I'm smiling now, and that's a nervous smile," Graner said.
He described himself as a by-the-book prison guard corrupted by superiors. He said he initially resisted pressure to mistreat prisoners, but his army superiors made it clear to him that he was expected to obey the commands of military and civilian intelligence agents.
Many Iraqis reacted angrily to the sentence yesterday, saying Graner should have faced harsher punishment. "It's too little. This isn't justice," trader Ali Ahmed (23) said.
"Even capital punishment isn't enough. But since it's forbidden to torture him the way he tortured the prisoners, I would have settled for the death penalty."
But Iraqi newspapers had only limited coverage of the court martial and many Iraqis said they had not been following it.
Even before the scandal of US abuse at Abu Ghraib erupted, the prison had a grim reputation because many of Saddam's enemies were jailed, tortured and killed there. Some Iraqis said that should not be forgotten.
"The abuse in Abu Ghraib prison was far worse under Saddam," said Salih al-Jubouri, a 33-year-old unemployed man.