U.S. Soldier Gets One Year for 'Mercy Killing' Iraqi Teen
Staff Sergeant Cardenas Alban was sentenced to a year in jail today after being convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder at a court martial. Last month, another soldier, Johnny Horne, was sentenced to three years for the incident. One more soldier is awaiting trial. Here's what happened:
The charges relate to the Aug. 18 killing of a 16-year-old Iraqi male found in a burning truck with severe abdominal wounds sustained during clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City, an impoverished neighborhood that was the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite rebels loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. A criminal investigator had said during an earlier hearing that the soldiers decided to kill him to "put him out of his misery."
The teen was 16-year-old Qassim Hassan, who was working with relatives collecting rubbish. The Geneva Convention prohibits shooting wounded persons. Here's more on the case.
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