US military hearing on Iraq rape case starts [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

US military hearing on Iraq rape case starts
(Reuters)
6 August 2006

BAGHDAD - Iraqi witnesses began testifying on Sunday to a US military court in Baghdad to decide whether to court-martial four US soldiers for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family in March.

The Mahmudiya case, the fifth involving serious crimes being investigated by the US military in Iraq, has outraged Iraqis and led Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops’ immunity from Iraqi prosecution.

The court began by taking testimony from Iraqi witnesses, a part of the process which is supposed to be held behind closed doors, and the media were asked to leave. In the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, witnesses delivered testimony from behind a curtain to preserve their anonymity.

Military prosecutors are expected to lay out their case against Private First Class Jesse Spielman, Specialist James Barker, Sergeant Paul Cortez and Private First Class Bryan Howard, who face charges of rape and murder among others.
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