US Marine officer sacked for Iraqi prison death

A US Marine officer has been thrown out of the service after a court martial convicted him of dereliction of duty and maltreatment of an Iraqi who died at the prison he commanded.

Major Clarke Paulus was acquitted of the more serious charge of assault and battery.

During the sentencing phase of his court-martial at Camp Pendleton, California, Paulus held back tears as he stood before the jury and apologised to both the Marine Corps and to his family.

“I hope the press would have these charges reflect on me personally and not the Marine Corps,” he said, his voice breaking.

He asked the eight officers on the panel to allow him to remain in the Marine Corps, saying he had served honourably for more than a decade.

Prosecutor Major Leon Francis, however, told the jury that the suffering of Nagem Sadoon Hatab “should amount to something”.

Paulus, 36, commanded the Marine detention facility at Camp Whitehorse in southern Iraq. He was accused of ordering a subordinate to drag Hatab by the neck out of a holding cell after the man suffered a bout of diarrhoea.

Hatab was stripped naked and left outside for seven hours before he was found dead.

A 52-year-old member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, Hatab was arrested by Marines who suspected him of a role in an ambush which led to the capture of Private Jessica Lynch.