Colonel and three of his men cleared over abuse of detained Iraqis
Steven Morris and Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian, Thursday February 15, 2007
The highest-ranking British officer to face a court martial in modern times and three of his men were cleared yesterday of involvement in the systematic abuse of Iraqi civilian prisoners.
Colonel Jorge Mendonca was acquitted of failing to ensure that his men did not mistreat prisoners who were being held at a British detention centre in Basra, southern Iraq. His three colleagues were found not guilty of taking part in the beating of the prisoners, violence which culminated in the death of hotel worker Baha Mousa, who was attacked over a 36-hour period while handcuffed and hooded and suffered 93 separate injuries
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..The case against Col Mendonca was that he should have known what was going on and ought to have acted to stop it. But the judge, Mr Justice McKinnon, yesterday directed the board hearing the courts martial to find Col Mendonca, Kingsman Fallon, Lance Corp Crowcroft and Sgt Stacey not guilty. He directed them to acquit Payne of manslaughter and of intending to pervert the course of justice. Mr Justice McKinnon told the board there was "no evidence" fit to put before them on which they could convict the men
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.General Sir Mike Jackson, who was head of the army until last year, last night said he was "certain" there had been no political interference in the case. "These difficult cases - and we must remember there is a dead body at the end of this - can only be judged on the evidence put in front of the prosecuting authority," he told Channel 4. "This is a matter of evidence, not a matter of politics or personal view."
Hmmmmmmmmmm??