Criminal court sentences Iraqi to death in murder of Americans

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Central Criminal Court of Iraq on Tuesday sentenced an Iraqi citizen to death for kidnapping and killing three U.S. soldiers in June 2006, the U.S. army said. “The Central Criminal Court of Iraq reached a unanimous verdict on Tuesday of guilty on an Iraqi national charged with acts of terrorism in the murder of three American military personnel in June 2006,” said the U.S. army statement received by IraqiNews.com. “Two other Iraqi nationals charged as accomplices in the crime were found not guilty by a majority vote of the Court, and charges were dismissed. The guilty Iraqi was given the death sentence,” it added. “SPC David Babineau, PFC Kristian Menchaca and PFC Thomas Tucker, who were assigned to 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, died in Yusufiya, Babylon Province as a result of a terrorist attack and abduction carried out by insurgents on June 16, 2006. The bodies of PFC Tucker and PFC Menchaca were not recovered until June 19, 2006,” it said. “The Trial Panel of one Chief Judge and two Member Judges considered evidence and testimony at the new Palace of Justice in Rusafa District, Baghdad before reaching decisions on all three defendants. The investigation and trial were conducted in accordance with Iraqi law,” the statement noted. “Ibrahim Karim Mohammed Saleh Al-Qaraghuli was found guilty as charged and sentenced to death, with a thirty-day period for appeal. Kazim Fadil Jassim Harbi Al-Zowba’i was found not guilty by a majority of the Court and ordered released. Walid Khaled Daydan Al-Kartani was found not guilty by a majority of the Court and ordered released,” it also said. SH (S) 1