SEAL Detainee Abuse Trials Moved to Iraq

NORFOLK -- If the government won't bring an Iraqi detainee to America to testify about alleged abuse at the hands of a Navy SEAL, then the trials will be held in Iraq, a military judge ruled today.

In a hearing on charges against Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, the judge set a trial date for April 6 at Camp Victory, where the abuse allegedly took place. Two other SEALs also are facing courts martial in the matter, and their situation has drawn criticism from some who think they are being treated too harshly.

Keefe, Petty Officer 1st Class Julio A. Huertas Jr. and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, assigned to SEAL Team Ten at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, face multiple misdemeanor charges related to the treatment of Ahmed Hashim Abed. Abed is thought to be linked to the 2004 killings of four Blackwater contractors whose bodies were dragged through the streets of Fallujah and suspended from a bridge.

For the most recent military news, visit the News Channel on Military.com.

McCabe is the only person charged with assaulting Abed. Prosecutors have said he punched Abed in the midsection.

Huertas and Keefe are charged with dereliction of duty for not protecting Abed, and all three are accused of making a false official statement when questioned about the incident. Huertas also is accused of impeding the investigation.

The military judge, Cmdr. Tierney Carlos, decided to move the trial to Iraq after government prosecutors said they would make Abed available to give a deposition but not to testify. Carlos said Keefe has a right to face his accuser in court.

The accusation of abuse came first from other American service members, not Abed, according to Maj. Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, head of Special Operations Command Central.

He suggested handling the case through nonjudicial punishment -- an option that would have kept the case out of the public eye but could have effectively ended the SEALs' careers. The men refused that option and chose to face courts-martial.

In a second hearing, Carlos also ordered that Huertas' trial be held in Iraq on April 15. A hearing will be held later this week for McCabe.