Witness: Graner Punched Iraqi Prisoner

[Stockholm]

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- The alleged ringleader of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal went on trial Monday with witnesses telling a military court they watched him punch an Iraqi inmate in the face and saw him laugh while forcing prisoners to pose naked.

Spc. Charles Graner Jr. is the first soldier accused in the scandal to go on trial. His case is an important test of an argument put forth by defense attorneys that the soldiers were ordered to soften up detainees for interrogators and had no choice but to obey.

A military guard testified Monday that he saw Graner punch an Iraqi detainee in the face a moment after a notorious photo was taken at Abu Ghraib prison.

snip

Womack (Graners´laywer) played down the photographs that showed naked prisoners stacked in pyramids. "Don't cheerleaders all over America make pyramids every day?" he said. "It's not torture."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRISONER_ABUSE_GRANER?SITE=WIEAU&SECTION=HOME