A US marine accused over the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians
in the city of Haditha was demoted to the rank of private but will serve
no time behind bars, a military spokesman has said.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the last squad member to face justice after all the others were cleared, was sentenced to 90 days confinement but he will not serve it for procedural reasons, the spokesman said.
The sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.
Word of the maximum sentence sparked outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "an insult to all Iraqis" and "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights."
Wuterich, 31, the commander of a unit whose other members have been exonerated, pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from the 2005 incident.
He entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed. Read Here
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the last squad member to face justice after all the others were cleared, was sentenced to 90 days confinement but he will not serve it for procedural reasons, the spokesman said.
The sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.
Word of the maximum sentence sparked outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "an insult to all Iraqis" and "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights."
Wuterich, 31, the commander of a unit whose other members have been exonerated, pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from the 2005 incident.
He entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed. Read Here
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