URGENT: Life sentence for Blackwater guards who killed Iraqis in 2007

 

(IraqiNews.com) The American Federal grand jury convicted 3 American Blackwater  guards for manslaughter and one for premeditated murder in an incident that took place in 2007 and  left 14 unarmed Iraqis dead at the Eagles Square in Baghdad.

The jury’s decision followed a trial that lasted two months and more than seven weeks of deliberations. The defendants sat in silence as they listened.

The jury convicted Paul Slough (35 years old), Dustin Heard (33 years old) and Evan Liberty (32 years old) of manslaughter for the death of at least 12 people in the Eagle Square where a Blackwater unit was trying to secure the way for a convoy belonging to the State Department.

The jury found the guards guilty of all clauses in the indictment facing them in regards to the killing of 14 Iraqis in 2007.

This trial came after years of missteps and false starts inasmuch as the case had lasted for too long amid evidence issues.

The State Department spokeswoman Marie Harff said: “We certainly respect the decision of the Court in this case.”

Mohammed Al-Quraishi, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Iraqi Embassy in Washington appeared at the courtroom to hear the jury’s decision and said that the Iraqi people were closely following the trial and hoped for the condemnation of the guards, adding that they would certainly welcome this decision.