Deserter seeks asylum in Germany

[unhappycamper]

U.S. Army Spc. André L. Shepherd, an Apache helicopter mechanic from Katterbach, Germany, has been AWOL from his unit since April 2007. Shepherd filed for political asylum in Germany on Wednesday.


Deserter seeks asylum in Germany
By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, July 28, 2008

MUNICH, Germany — An American soldier who deserted the Army 18 months ago to avoid a second tour to Iraq has asked the German government for political asylum, making him the first U.S. servicemember to go that route over Iraq.

Army Spc. André L. Shepherd submitted his petition Wednesday to a German federal office in Giessen that handles migration and refugee issues. Worried the Army might attempt to arrest him, Shepherd didn't publicly disclose the time and place of his filing until he held a press conference Thursday morning in Frankfurt.

In a seven-page letter written earlier this year for his attorney, Shepherd stated he wanted "to walk away from the Army and, more to the point, my country." The Apache helicopter mechanic from Cleveland wrote of not wanting to be "an instrument of destruction" and of the "imperial actions of an America gone horribly wrong."

A spokesman for U.S. Army Europe said late Wednesday the command had just learned of the asylum case hours earlier.

“We know nothing about it," other than a news release that came out announcing the press conference, said Bruce Anderson said. “We’re waiting for the facts.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59104