[Media-watch] MoD move to suppress Iraqi abuse evidence - Washington Times - 10/1/2005

[Julie-ann Davies]

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050110-105331-8133r.htm

MoD move to suppress Iraqi abuse evidence



London, England, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Britain's military may move to suppress 
evidence from Iraqi prisoner abuse court martials until after the Jan. 30 
Iraqi elections.

The Guardian newspaper Monday quoted defense sources as saying lawyers may 
argue public revelation of details could provoke attacks on British troops 
in the run up to the Iraq elections.

However, the Guardian and a number of other media organizations say they 
will mount a legal challenge if the government attempts to suppress the 
information.

Four soldiers are facing a court martial Monday and Wednesday at a British 
military court in Germany for allegedly sexually abusing and torturing Iraqi 
prisoners at a warehouse outside Basra last year.

The soldiers allegedly stripped and humiliated prisoners and took 
photographs of the incidents, in what has been dubbed "Britain's Abu 
Ghraib."

Peter Goldsmith, Britain's attorney general, told Parliament last year that 
the indecent assault charge "apparently involves making the victims engage 
in sexual activity between themselves."

Early reports suggested the key to the case is a roll of film containing 25 
pictures. Images are said to include a soldier kicking an Iraqi prisoner in 
the head and another forcing a prisoner to perform oral sex on him.



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