No cameras at prisoner abuse court martial

NO TELEVISION cameras or tape recorders will be allowed in the courtroom at next week’s court-martial of a US soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, a senior US officer said yesterday.

Specialist Jeremy Sivits of Hyndman, Pennsylvania, a member of the Army's 372nd Military Police Company, will face a military court in Baghdad on May 19 - less than a month after photos of prisoners being abused and humiliated were first broadcast on April 28.

The streamlined trial is expected to last just one or two days including the sentencing phase, if Sivits is found guilty, said a US military legal adviser who briefed reporters.

The US military normally allows family members, observers and print reporters to attend trials, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said at a briefing.

Kimmitt said the court-martial will be held in Baghdad and will be open to media coverage. He also said the military had launched an investigation into interrogation procedures at Abu Ghraib after soldiers accused of mistreating prisoners said they did so at the urging of military intelligence officers.

"There is also a third investigation that is now looking at the military intelligence and interrogation procedures out at Abu Ghraib and frankly all of our detention facilities."

He said the military was conducting procedures against seven soldiers facing court-martial, including Sivits, and had issued career-ending reprimands to six officers or non-commissioned officers.