Sentencing phase to begin in England trial

Pfc. Lynndie England took responsibility for the smiling, thumbs-up poses she struck for photographs taken at Abu Ghraib prison camp, which made her the face of the prisoner abuse scandal.

Now, with the sentencing phase in her military trial in Fort Hood, Texas, set to begin today, England’s goal is to minimise the punishment.

England, 22, pleaded guilty on Monday to seven counts of mistreating prisoners, saying she let her comrades talk her into going along with the abuse.

The charges carry up to 11 years in prison, but prosecutors and the defence reached an agreement that caps the sentence at a lesser punishment, the length of which was not released. She will get the lesser of the military jury’s sentence or the term agreed on in the plea bargain.

Wearing her green Army dress uniform and speaking sombrely in a soft voice with her arms close by her side, the reservist told the judge she initially resisted taking part in the abuse at the Baghdad prison, but caved in to peer pressure.

“I could have said: ‘No'", she told Colonel James Pohl, the judge. “I knew it was wrong.”

Captain Cullen Sheppard, a prosecution spokesman, said the government will put on one sentencing witness before the defence begins its effort to persuade the jury to go easy on England.

Private Charles Graner Jt, labelled the abuse ringleader and the man said to be the father of England’s infant son, is expected to testify on England’s behalf, perhaps as early as today.

Graner was convicted in January on a range of abuse charges and is serving a 10-year sentence in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

England became a central figure in the Abu Ghraib scandal after photos emerged last year showing her and others sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners.

One of the photos showed her holding a hooded, naked prisoner on a leash. Another showed her smiling and giving a thumbs-up next to nude prisoners stacked in a pyramid. A third depicted England pointing at the prisoner’s genitals as a cigarette dangled from her lips.

She told Pohl she did not want to point at the man’s genitals, but that Graner or another soldier pressured her into it. “I said: ‘No, no way'", she recalled to the judge. “But they were being very persistent, bugging me, so I said: ‘Okay, whatever.'"

England said she knew all along she could have refused to take part in the abuse. “I had a choice, but I chose to do what my friends wanted me to,” she said.

England entered guilty pleas to two counts of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act. Prosecutors agreed to drop another count of committing an indecent act and one count of dereliction of duty.

Four other members of the 372nd Military Police Company and two low-level military intelligence officers have entered guilty pleas in connection with the scandal, with sentences ranging from no time to eight years.

Spc. Sabrina Harman, a former Abu Ghraib guard, is scheduled to go to trial at Fort Hood next week.

Several investigations have been conducted, but so far only low-level soldiers have been charged, though the defendants have alleged that high-level officials condoned the abuse.