Basra war crimes case judge to rule

12 April 2012

A judge is due to consider defence arguments to dismiss or modify charges against seven British soldiers accused of mistreating Iraqi civilians in a high-profile case that has tarnished the image of Britain's military.

The servicemen are on trial for charges relating to nine Iraqi detainees, including a hotel worker who died while in custody. Three of the soldiers are charged with the war crime of inhumane treatment of prisoners.

The detainees were allegedly 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.

Justice Stuart McKinnon is expected to rule on a defence motion that prosecutor Julian Bevan has failed to prove his case and that the remaining charges against the defendants should be dismissed or reduced.

A hearing on the case is scheduled to be held at a military installation in Bulford.

The court martial has attracted national attention because one of the defendants, Cpl Donald Payne, 35, has pleaded guilty to the charge of inhumanely treating the Iraqi civilians, making him the first British soldier ever to admit a war crime.

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