Hearing ends in detainee abuse case

[unhappycamper]

Hearing ends in detainee abuse case
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 14, 2008 18:26:25 EST

James Necaise, a 43-year-old chief aviation structural mechanic from Mississippi, was just one month shy of 20 years in the Navy when he was accused in May of supervising and participating in the abuse of a several Iraqi prisoners at Camp Bucca, Iraq.

A three-day Article 32 hearing on charges of conspiracy, cruelty and maltreatment and making false official statements began Wednesday at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.

The hearing is similar to a grand jury in civilian court. The presiding officer will recommend whether to put the case before a general court-martial, with felony-level charges carrying more than a year in the brig and a dishonorable discharge.

He is one of 13 sailors accused in a May 14, 2008, incident at Camp Bucca, the largest U.S. military detention center in Iraq, near the Kuwaiti border.

The abuse occurred on a “day of unrest at the camp” when detainees allegedly spat and threw feces and urine on their jailors, Navy officials said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/11/navy_detainee_abuse_111408w/%2e