- A female American soldier accused of involvement in the
prisoner abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison is back in court for
a second day.
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- Private Lynndie England, 21, told the first day of the
hearing that photos of the abuse were "taken for fun".
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- Prosecution witnesses are expected to testify by telephone
from Iraq during Wednesday's proceedings.
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- The court is to decide whether to court-martial Pte England,
who could face up to 38 years in prison.
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- 'Joking around'
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- Pte England's face became familiar after she appeared
in photographs pointing at prisoners' genitals and holding a naked Iraqi
detainee on a leash.
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- Her lawyers say she was acting under orders from superiors.
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- The US officer in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison at
the time of the abuse, Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, supported the allegation,
saying the conspiracy could have gone as high as the Pentagon or the White
House. Two prosecution witnesses testified on the first day of the four-day
hearing in North Carolina.
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- Investigator Paul Arthur said Pte England and the seven
other soldiers charged "were joking around" and did not think
that it was "that big a deal."
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- He said Pte England had told him that one of her superiors,
Spc Charles Graner, had asked her to pose in the picture of the inmate
on the leash.
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- The second witness, military crimes investigator Warren
Worth, who also interviewed Pte England, was asked whether she was "a
willing participant" in the photo.
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- "She didn't say she objected to it," Mr Worth
said.
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- He also said that, with the exception of two immediate
superiors charged over the issue - Spc Graner and Staff Sgt Ivan Frederick
- he had found no evidence that the soldiers had been given orders from
the top command.
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- Vigorous defence
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- But under cross-examination, Mr Worth said some soldiers
mentioned that military intelligence had encouraged them to "soften"
inmates.
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- The Pentagon has denied sanctioning any rough treatment
of prisoners, and describes the abuse as isolated incidents.
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- Pte England is to be charged with conspiracy to mistreat
Iraqi prisoners, assaulting prisoners, committing acts prejudicial to good
order, committing indecent acts, disobeying an order and creating and possessing
sexually explicit photographs.
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- Her lawyers have promised to mount a vigorous defence,
denying the charges and blaming flawed American policies in Iraq.
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- The US military says it is investigating another 94 possible
prisoner abuse cases in Iraq and elsewhere.
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- © BBC MMIV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3536588.stm
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