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First soldier to stand trial for prison abuse

BAGHDAD, SEPT. 11 . A U.S. Army specialist pleaded guilty on Saturday to abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison, the first Military Intelligence soldier to stand trial in the scandal that has so far focussed on prison guard reservists.

Spc. Armin J. Cruz was assigned to the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion at the grim facility on the western edge of Baghdad. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to maltreatment of prisoners. The military judge, Col. James Pohl, sentenced Spc. Cruz to eight months confinement, reduction in rank and bad conduct discharge.

The prosecution alleged Spc. Cruz forced naked prisoners to crawl along the floor and later handcuffed the men together. The 24-year-old soldier broke down in tears as he told the judge that the abuse occurred a month after a mortar attack killed his sergeant and another U.S. soldier.

The defence

Defence attorney Stephen P. Karns argued that Spc. Cruz was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The chief prosecutor, Maj. Michael R. Holley, said Spc. Cruz was not forced to take part in the abuse and that his actions contributed "to the tarnishing of the reputation and the image of U.S. forces."

Spc. Cruz became the second soldier convicted so far in the prison scandal. In May, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits pleaded guilty to four counts of abuse at his court-martial and was sentenced to a year in prison, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge. Six other enlisted soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Cresaptown, Maryland, face charges in the scandal.— AP

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