Tamworth teenager to face Iraq abuse charges

[seemslikeadream]

Jun 15 2004

By Neil Connor, Birmingham Post

A Staffordshire teenager will face a court martial charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Private Gary Bartlam, from Tam-worth, is among four soldiers from the 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers to face the abuse charges, the Attorney General confirmed yesterday.

Pte Bartlam, aged 19, was questioned by the Army's Special Investigations Branch after he sent a film to be processed after returning from Iraq last summer.

The photographs, which were seized by police, allegedly show an Iraqi man suspended in the air by a rope attached to a forklift truck, and prisoners being forced to perform sexual acts.


He added: "It involves photographic evidence developed in this country and referred to the UK police. A date for the trial has yet to be set by the Military Court Service. Any trial will be held in public."

They were killed when three 4x4 vehicles were blown up. Qadri Abdul-Latif, Iraqi civil defence colonel, said at least 12 people were killed in the blast at Tahrir Square in the city.

more
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/post/tm_objectid=14334099&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=tamworth-teenager-to-face-iraq-abuse-charges-name_page.html

[WillParkinson]

1. It's funny how, depending on the crime, they refer to people as...

"Teenager" or "Man". I wonder how they decide what word to use?

[saigon68]

2. How about calling him a "WAR CRIMINAL"

Fits the bill for me.

[Judi Lynn]

3. British Fusiliers on abuse charges

(snip)
....The photographs came to light when Kelly Tilford, who worked at a photo shop in Tamworth, in Staffordshire, central England, received them for developing. She called the police.

Ms Tilford, 22, said at the time she had been sickened by the pictures, which were allegedly taken by one of the soldiers in the regiment. One of the images allegedly showed an Iraqi, bound and gagged, hanging from a rope on a fork-lift truck.

Lord Goldsmith's announcement was the first in an expected series of charges to be levelled against British soldiers allegedly involved in abuse of Iraqi civilians. The Attorney-General said that eight cases had been referred to the Army Prosecuting Authority.

The other cases are known to involve one of the most serious allegations, which is that members of The Queen's Lancashire Regiment physically mistreated Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist, who died allegedly of his injuries.
(snip/...)

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9858167%255E2703,00.html