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Soldier gets six months in Abu Ghraib case
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-18 15:49
FORT HOOD, Texas - An Army reservist who appears in several of the most
infamous abuse photos taken by guards at Abu Ghraib prison was sentenced Tuesday
to six months in prison for her role in the scandal that rocked the U.S.
military's image at home and abroad.
U.S. Army Spc.
Sabrina Harman, who was found guilty May 16, 2005 on six of seven charges
she faced for the mistreatment on prisoners at the Abu Gharib prison in
Iraq in late 2003, walks into the Lawrence J. Williams Judicial Center at
Fort Hood, Texas, in this file image from May 11, 2005. Sentencing in the
case begins May 17, 2005, and Harman could face up to five and one-half
years in prison. [Reuters] | The sentence for Spc.
Sabrina Harman came a day after she was convicted on six of the seven counts she
faced for mistreating detainees at the Baghdad-area lockup in late 2003. She
faced a maximum of five years, though prosecutors asked the jury to give her
three years.
With credit for time served, Harman's actual sentence is just more than four
months. She will be reduced in rank to a private and receive a bad conduct
discharge after she finishes the sentence.
Defense lawyer Frank Spinner said his client was offered the chance to plead
guilty last year with a two-year sentencing cap, but Harman turned down the
proposal.
"I felt very strongly in Sabrina Harman," said Spinner. "I feel she's a very
naive, very innocent person. ... She didn't know how to react to that experience
(at Abu Ghraib)."
Prosecutors said in a written statement that they were pleased to bring
Harman's case to its conclusion "as we strive to air all the facts regarding Abu
Ghraib."
Harman, 27, of Lorton, Va., was the second low-level soldier from the
Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company to go to trial on Abu Ghraib
charges. Pvt. Charles Graner Jr. was found guilty in January and is serving a
10-year sentence.
Four other soldiers from the 372nd made plea deals with prosecutors, as did
two soldiers from a military intelligence unit operating at Abu Ghraib.
Pfc. Lynndie England, the best-known defendant in the abuse case, could face
trial after her effort at a plea deal fell through earlier this month.
During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Harman tearfully apologized for
mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
"As a soldier and military police officer, I failed my duties and failed my
mission to protect and defend," Harman said, her voice cracking. "I not only let
down the people in Iraq, but I let down every single soldier that serves today.
"My actions potentially caused an increased hatred and insurgency towards the
United States, putting soldiers and civilians at greater risk," she continued.
"I take full responsibility for my actions. ... The decisions I made were mine
and mine alone."
Among other things, Harman was found guilty of taking part in a photographed
incident in which a hooded Iraqi was threatened with electrocution while
standing on a box with electrical wires in his hands.
Earlier Tuesday, witnesses testified that the former pizza shop manager was
kindhearted and helpful while serving in an Iraqi city.
Much of the defense testimony during sentencing focused on her behavior while
at the Iraqi city of Hillah, where the 372nd Military Police Company was based
for several months before moving to Abu Ghraib.
When other U.S. soldiers just wanted to sit in the shade after a long
workday, Harman ran around in the hot sun, playing games with Iraqi children,
witnesses said.
Master Sgt. Brian Lipinski, who served with Harman's unit, said she was
widely known by her first name and her kind deeds among those living in Hillah.
"She presented a very positive image, a very caring image," Lipinski
testified. "They were a country very much in need and she filled some of the
gaps."
Two Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, whose testimony was read into the record,
said Harman's gentle treatment was unique among the guards in the part of the
prison reserved mostly for detainees believed to have intelligence value.
"She has no cruelty in her," said Amjad Ismail Khalil al-Taie through an
interpreter. "Even though she is an American woman, she was just like a
sister."
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