Iraq war resister Navy sailor Pablo Paredes has been sentenced to three months of hard labor for refusing deployment to the Persian Gulf. He was also demoted from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy. His lawyers call it a victory for war resisters around the country.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Paredes to nine months of confinement and a bad conduct discharge.
Paredes refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it was preparing to sail from San Diego with 2,000 Marines in December. He surrendered to military authorities a few days later and applied for conscientious objector status. The Navy has denied his request but that ruling is being appealed.
Paredes was convicted in a court-martial on Wednesday on a charge of missing his deployment. Prosecutor Lt. Brandon Hale said "He is trying to infect the military with his own philosophy of disobedience."
Sgt. Kevin Benderman was to stand trial Thursday on charges of desertion and missing movement, but the judge, Col. Stephen Henley, ruled that the investigating officer who recommended trying him in a general court-martial had compromised her impartiality in an e-mail to a military prosecutor.[...]
Maj. Pamela Stephens, chief of administrative law at Fort Stewart, said the ruling does not throw out the charges against Benderman - for which he could face up to seven years in prison, reduction in rank to private and a dishonorable discharge.
A Third Infantry soldier accused of deserting his unit went back to court today to begin a new case. On the eve of Sgt. Kevin Benderman's court-martial, the judge threw out the indictment. He said the investigating officer may have been biased.
He ordered the equivalent of a new grand jury to rehear the case.
Benderman says he missed his unit's deployment because commanders were trying to deal with his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq.
"I know the whole time, I haven't told any untruths, that I haven't deserted and I haven't done the things I'm accused of," he said. "I know the truth will come out."
Prosecutors added another charge today. They say he collected combat pay while still at home. Benderman's attorneys say he immediately notified the Army of the bookkeeping error.
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