Watada Trial Off to a Rocky Start
The court-martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to go to Iraq, began on Monday with the judge refusing to allow most of the defense's witnesses to testify. Watada's civilian lawyer, Eric Seitz, had some harsh words for the judge: "If you are going to tie my hands and you are going to script these proceedings, then in my view we're all wasting our time."
The court-martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to go to Iraq, began on Monday with the judge refusing to allow most of the defense’s witnesses to testify. Watada’s civilian lawyer, Eric Seitz, had some harsh words for the judge: “If you are going to tie my hands and you are going to script these proceedings, then in my view we’re all wasting our time.”
Your support is crucial…AP:
1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu is charged with missing movement for refusing to ship out with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He also faces charges of conduct unbecoming an officer for accusing the Army of war crimes and denouncing the administration for conducting an “illegal war” founded on “lies.”
As his court-martial got under way, military judge Lt. Col. John Head refused to allow almost all defense witnesses to take the stand. Head previously ruled that Watada’s attorney, Eric Seitz, could not debate the legality of the Iraq war in court.
If convicted, Watada could receive four years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He has requested that his case be heard by a military panel of officers, the equivalent of a jury. It had not yet been selected by midday.
At one point, Seitz suggested Head could be committing judicial misconduct if he denied Seitz an opportunity to ask panel members biographical questions to determine any bias.
“If you are going to tie my hands and you are going to script these proceedings, then in my view we’re all wasting our time,” Seitz said.
With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.
Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.
Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.
Bradley Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison with the chance of parole in his court-martial at Fort Meade, Md. As one Twitter user posted, "That's 35 years more than the people who started the Iraq War."
At his court-martial Wednesday, the whistle-blower behind the biggest leak in American history apologized.
We've seen radically different presentations of Bradley Manning in the closing statements presented by the defense and prosecution at his court-martial. But it's what the judge believes that will determine his fate.
Relatives of a paratrooper fear they will never know why the 19-year-old woman was stabbed to death, even though one Army court-martial has been held and another is about to begin.A young paratrooper’s relatives fear they will never know why she was stabbed to death.
Five U.S. soldiers are accused of getting high and murdering Afghan civilians without cause. In leaked interrogation tapes, at least two appear to confess to as much. (Video and more after the jump.)
Lt. Ehren Watada, the soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq on grounds that serving there would be participating in war crimes, is finally free of the Army. His court-martial ended in a mistrial and the military decided to let Watada go.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.