A military judge warned the US Government today that the politically-charged case against a soldier accused of humiliating Iraqi prisoners could collapse without more evidence.
Colonel James Pohl delivered his ultimatum at a military tribunal in Mannheim for Specialist Charles Graner, the military policeman most closely identified with the Abu Ghraib abuses.
Photographs have showed Specialist Graner smiling over a pile of naked prisoners, but the US prosecution case against the soldier is far from complete.
“The Government has to figure out what they want to do with the prosecution of this case,” complained Colonel Pohl.
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The judge demanded that three investigative reports be completed by September 10 for submission as evidence in a court martial. A separate report had to be ready by December.
But if there was no sign of progress by October, he would “seriously revisit” a defence plea to dismiss the case against Specialist Graner.
The delay in preparing the reports and moving towards a court martial may reflect US army nervousness about the political sensitivity about the case.
Presidential elections are due in November and some of the top brass may prefer a later date for such a politically and emotionally charged court martial.
The judge also ruled that graphic digital photographs of Iraqi prisoners, in different humiliating poses, could be admitted as evidence.
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The defence team argued that Specialist Graner had not been alerted to his legal rights when military investigators removed two digital cameras and looked into the computer in his Baghdad quarters.
The pre-trial hearing, which is being held for security reasons in Taylor Barracks in Mannheim, is supposed to establish what evidence can or cannot be submitted to the court martial of Specialist Graner and three other soldiers: Specialist Megan Ambuhl, Staff Sergeant Ivan “Chip” Frederick and Specialist Javal Davis.
All belonged to the 372 Military Police Company. One member of the unit, Jeremy Sivits, pleaded guilty in May and is already serving a one-year sentence at a military prison in Germany.
Specialist Graner faces charges of assault, mistreatment of prisoners, dereliction of duty, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, adultery and committing indecent acts. He could face more than 24 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The charge of adultery - an offence under the US military code - relates to Private Lynndie England who has been attending a pre-trial hearing in Fort Bragg in the United States.
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Private England, a reservist who became infamous for grinning on photographs as she pointed at the genitals of naked Iraqi prisoners, was made pregnant by Specialist Graner.
The defence will argue at the court martial will be that the soldiers were obeying orders or at least acting within a framework of official tolerance.