Military jury clears soldier of Afghan prisoner abuse News
Military jury clears soldier of Afghan prisoner abuse

[JURIST] A military jury Friday cleared a US Army sergeant of all charges related to his alleged abuse of a prisoner [JURIST report] at the US-run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan [JURIST news archive]. Sgt. Duane Grubb had been charged [JURIST report] with assault, maltreatment and making a false official statement, but testified that he had never hit prisoner Zarif Khan. Prosecutors said Grubb repeatedly used his knees to strike Khan, who was released and could not be found to testify, but was described during the court-martial as being mentally retarded. Six soldiers from Grubb's Cincinnati-based military police company were charged with abuse after two other detainees died at the prison in 2002 [Army press release], but three of the charged soldiers have since been acquitted. AP has more.