Iraqi detainee abuse trials get under way in US, Europe News
Iraqi detainee abuse trials get under way in US, Europe

[JURIST] Trials of Coalition soldiers charged with abusing Iraqi detainees get under way Monday on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, opening arguments are set to begin at Fort Hood, Texas, in the trial of Spc. Charles Graner Jr., accused of mistreating prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Graner's defense lawyer has said that he might call Graner himself to the stand in the course of the trial, which will also feature recorded testimony from three former detainees. AP has more. Meanwhile at a British military base in Germany, a court-martial was also scheduled to begin Monday for Private Gary Bartlam, one of four members of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers charged with abusing Iraqi detainees at a warehouse outside the southern city of Basra in May 2003. As in the Graner case, the evidence against Bartlam consists largely of soldier-snapped "trophy" photographs showing Iraqi prisoners being abused and sexually humiliated. BBC News has more.