Lawyers try throw out abuse soldier statements

Lawyers for Private Lynndie England attempted today to throw out statements she made when first questioned about Iraqi prisoner abuse, including that guards were just “joking around, having some fun”.

The motion was one of five taken up by military judge Colonel Stephen Henley in a hearing in advance of England’s court-martial on abuse charges stemming from photos of her pointing and smiling at naked detainees at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison.

Paul Arthur, a US army special investigator, said England was aware of her rights, including to have a lawyer present, when she was interviewed for more than four hours three months before the photos became public.

Arthur testified that England was brought in for questioning – without a lawyer present – because investigators had obtained several pictures of her, including the now-infamous shot of her holding a naked detainee by a leash.

He said England was cooperative and did not appear fearful, and if she had asked for a lawyer he would have ended the interview. At the end of the questioning, he said, she wrote and signed a statement detailing her actions.

In a hearing this summer, Arthur said England told him the reservists took the photos while “they were joking around, having some fun, during the night shift”.

England, a 21-year-old reservist from Fort Ashby, West Virginia, was one of seven part time soldiers charged with humiliating and assaulting prisoners at the Baghdad prison. She became a focal point of the scandal after the photos surfaced.

Today’s hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was England’s first court appearance since giving birth to a son in October. Lawyers have said the father is another soldier charged in the case.