45 days in jail will certainly teach this US service man that it is wrong to kill iraqi citizens. boy when the us military punishes people it sure uses an iron fist :) Original Article 45 days' jail for US officer who had cousins thrown into Tigris Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Wednesday March 16, 2005 The Guardian An American army platoon leader who ordered his troops to throw two Iraqi prisoners into the Tigris river was sentenced yesterday to 45 days in military prison and given a $12,000 (6,200) fine. Lieutenant Jack Saville, 25, pleaded guilty to assault and dereliction of duty, at Fort Hood, in Texas, for ordering his troops to force two Iraqis into the river in January last year - one of the men was feared to have drowned, though his body was never found. Marwan Fadil and his cousin Zaidoun Hassoun were out after curfew in Samarra, 62 miles north of Baghdad, when the incident happened. During an earlier trial Mr Fadil testified that Mr Hassoun had been killed but this was denied by other US soldiers who said his death had been faked. The fact that Mr Hassoun's body was never found made it difficult for Lt Saville to be charged with manslaughter. Lt Saville, a West Point graduate, is one of the first officers to be tried for abuse following a series of courts martial of relatively lowly troops and reservists in the Abu Ghraib scandal and other cases. He pleaded guilty to assault and dereliction of duty under a deal reached with army prosecutors. He was also convicted of a lesser assault in another abuse case in the town of Balad in December 2003. In return for the light sentence, Lt Saville agreed to testify against his captain, who had given him a hit list of five Iraqis who were to be executed on the spot if they were captured in a raid. In January, Lt Saville's co-defendant, Sergeant Tracy Perkins, was convicted of assault and sentenced to six months in prison. Lt Saville apologised to both men in a prepared statement. He also pleaded to be allowed to stay on in the military, saying his career was his life. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20050315-1326-soldiers-drowning.html By Angela K. Brown ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:26 p.m. March 15, 2005 FORT HOOD, Texas An Army platoon leader was sentenced Tuesday to 45 days in prison for his role in the forcing of three Iraqi civilians into the Tigris River at gunpoint for violating curfew. Investigators say one of the Iraqis drowned. Army 1st Lt. Jack Saville also must forfeit $2,000 of his military salary per month for six months, military judge Col. Theodore Dixon ruled. The 25-year-old West Point graduate could have gotten 9 years in prison. He pleaded guilty Monday to assault and other crimes in one incident, and was convicted Tuesday of an assault charge in a second case. Reading from a statement during the sentencing phase of his trial, Saville apologized and said: "I desperately wish to remain in the Army. It has given me more than I could ever imagine." He will be allowed to remain in the Army. US soldier gets 45 days in jail for forcing Iraqis off bridge http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/16/content_2702981.htm www.chinaview.cn 2005-03-16 08:43:16 WASHINGTON, March 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A US Army lieutenant was sentenced Tuesday to 45 days in jail and a pay cut of 12,000 dollars for forcing two Iraqi civilians off a bridge, killing one of them. Army 1st Lt. Jack Saville pleaded guilty at a court at Fort Hood, Texas, to assault for ordering subordinates to push Zaidoun Fadel Hassoun, 19 and his cousin, Marwan Fadel Hassoun, into the Tigris River from a bridge on Jan. 3, 2004 in Iraq. He was also convicted of lesser assault in a separate incident in December 2003. US Army prosecutors said Zaidoun was found dead after falling from the bridge near Samarra, 60 miles (about 96 kilometers) northof Baghdad, and Marwan left the river without injuries. The two Iraqis were detained for violating a curfew. Saville could have faced nearly two years in prison based on a plea agreement with prosecutors. He got 45 days instead and was ordered to forfeit 2,000 dollars of his military salary per month for six months. Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins, the co-defendant in the Tigris River incident, was sentenced to six months in prison. Defense attorneys contended that the prosecutors could not prove a homicide, saying there was no body, no death and no crime.