US sergeant sentenced to 8 years for prison abuse

8.00am

BAGHDAD - A US military judge has sentenced Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick to eight years in prison on Thursday for sexually and physically abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.

Judge Colonel James Pohl also sentenced Frederick, the highest ranking soldier to be charged in the Abu Ghraib scandal, to a reduction in rank to private, a forfeiture of pay, and a dishonourable discharge from the army.

Frederick's lawyer, Gary Myers, called the sentence excessive and said he would appeal. The other two soldiers so far tried for abuse at the jail were sentenced to eight months and one year in prison.

Frederick, 38, had pleaded guilty to five charges of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib in October and November last year, including making three prisoners masturbate. He also punched one prisoner so hard in the chest that he needed resuscitation.

Major Michael Holley, the military prosecutor, told the court it was a simple case of doing the right thing.

"He's an adult and capable of telling, as we learned, the difference between right and wrong," he said of Frederick. "How much training do you need to learn that it's wrong to force a man to masturbate?"

Frederick is the third US soldier to be convicted for abuse at Abu Ghraib, an affair that shocked the world when it broke in April with pictures splashed across the media.

Five more military police soldiers, including three women, are due to face courts martial in the coming months.

The judge had intended to sentence Frederick to 10 years in jail, but the time was cut to eight because of a plea bargain.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq