‘Mechanic’ soldier first to go on trial

The court martial will begin on May 19 in Baghdad and will be held in public, possibly at a convention centre built by Saddam Hussein that sits inside the “Green Zone”, the headquarters of the US-led coalition.

“Court martials are open to the public,” military spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said. “It’s our desire to make the upcoming courts martial accessible as possible,” he said.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of one year’s imprisonment, a reduction in grade to private, the docking of two-thirds pay and allowances for a year and a fine. The court can also hand down a bad conduct discharge from the military.

A military source said Sivits allegedly took many of the pictures of abuse at Abu Ghraib, that show soldiers piling naked and hooded detainees on top of one another or posing them to simulate sex acts.

Sivits’ father, Daniel Sivits, defended his son earlier this week saying he was not deployed to Iraq as a military policeman and had no training for the role he was told to perform. But he was so proud of being a soldier that he showed up for his date’s high school prom wearing his new uniform, corsage in hand.

“My son is not a trained MP,” he said. “He is trained as a mechanic… He’s used to changing tyres on a humvee.” The charges made so far relate to abuses allegedly carried out in October and November last year.

15 soldiers released
Fifteen Iraqi prisoners were released on Saturday from the Abu Ghraib prison. The 15 were the first residents of the Fallujah area to be freed from Abu Ghraib since the end of the Marine siege of Fallujah last month, gunnery Sgt. Mark Klein of the 1st battalion, 5th marine regiment said. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, commander of detention facilities in Iraq, said the US planned to reduce the number of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib.

— —Reuters