DENVER - A US military interrogator convicted of killing an Iraqi general by stuffing his head into a sleeping bag was on Monday sentenced to a reprimand and fine but no jail time, local media reported. Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer must also give up 6,000 dollars of his pay and was confined to his base and place of worship for 60 days, according to the sentence handed down by a six-member court-martial board or jury.
| He's convicted, his career is over, and he'll be known by other military people as someone who crossed the line. |
Welshofer, who was convicted by the same panel on Saturday of negligent homicide, had faced a sentence of up to three years in military prison. He could have faced a life sentence had he been convicted of murder. Welshofer, who argued that his actions were not extreme and that interrogation rules were unclear, on Monday thanked those colleagues who supported him. “The military is a family when you get right down to it,” Welshofer said on Denver television’s 9News in remarks that appeared to come after the verdict. “I can’t thank them enough for their support.”
The officer was accused of torturing Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush, covering his head with a sleeping bag, binding him with electric cord and sitting on his chest until he died. The general died of suffocation at a detention center in Al Anbar province, near the Syrian border in November 2002.
Military officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the sentence. |