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Military Judge Bars Release of Abu Ghraib Photos
Reuters
Tuesday 20 September 2005
Fort Hood, Texas - A day before the trial of Lynndie England,
the U.S. soldier who held an Iraqi prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib
prison, a military judge on Tuesday barred the release of photos which
have already been published around the world.
At a final pre-trial hearing, Judge Col. James Pohl also expressed
skepticism about the central defense argument that England, 22, was
overly compliant toward authority figures and could not always make
reasoned judgments for herself.
"You are painting a picture of a woman who cannot think for herself in
almost all circumstances," Pohl told lead defense lawyer Capt.
Jonathan Crisp.
"She does have to look to the authority figures around her and glean
what to do," said Crisp.
England is pictured in some of the most notorious Abu Ghraib
photographs. In one image, she points and jeers at the genitals of a
naked prisoner; in another, she poses with the father of her baby,
Charles Graner, in front of a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners.
The publication of the photos a year and a half ago caused global
outrage and was a major setback to the Bush administration, which had
angered many nations by declaring war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Because the Abu Ghraib photos are so widely known, the order barring
their release will have a limited impact. They will not be shown to the
public attending the trial, but rather will be shown on computer
screens to the officers on the jury.
"They'll be sealed until an appellate court says they won't be
sealed," said Capt. Cullen Sheppard, a spokesman for the prosecution.
"Many of the photos that are protected are photos that you have
seen."
Some photos have not been made public. For example, one charge since
dropped against England alleged she had been photographed engaging in
fellatio with Graner, the abuse ringleader who is serving a ten-year
prison sentence and who has since married a woman who pled guilty in
the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Pohl's order could however affect what is released under a 2003 lawsuit
by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain information on the
treatment of U.S.-held detainees.
Mentally Incapacitated?
England had originally pleaded guilty to seven counts of abuse during a
trial in May. Judge Pohl negated the plea deal however after hearing
evidence suggesting that she thought she was following orders from a
superior and thus may not have known she was acting wrongly.
Her defense team now argues England was innocent and that she was
partially mentally incapacitated.
England's mental agility and compliance to authority was at issue as
Pohl decided that he would allow a statement she made to military
authorities in January 2004 soon after they learned of the abuses.
Pohl asked how England was able to finish high school and function in
society if she could not understand that she could decline to talk to
investigators.
"By turning to and leaning on authority figures around her," Crisp
responded.
England's trial starts on Wednesday with the selection of the military
jury, to be followed by opening arguments in a case expected to
conclude by the end of next week.
England is the last of a series of low-level American soldiers
convicted of abuses at Abu Ghraib, once a notorious site of torture
under Saddam Hussein. Six have pleaded guilty and two others, including
Graner, have been convicted at military trial.
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