Unspecified charges are being prepared against four US Marines as a result of an investigation that has already led to allegations that seven other Marines and a Navy corpsman murdered an Iraqi civilian, a Marine Corps official said.
It was not known if the four will face charges stemming from the April 26 killing of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, or if the charges will relate to separate incidents uncovered during that probe.
"There are four other [Marines] that are pending charges," Lieutenant Colonel Colby Vokey, the Marine Corps' defense coordinator for the western US, said on Tuesday. "For what, I don't know."
Two other attorneys defending suspects in the Iraqi civilian's death said they did not believe the charges were related to that case.
Three of the Marines are enlistees, one is an officer. All belong to the same platoon in Kilo Company of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
Vokey learned charges were imminent because he was instructed to find attorneys for the four men. He said he expects charges against the three enlisted Marines to be announced later this week.
The eight troops already charged with the kidnap and murder of Awad are in the Camp Pendleton brig.
Navy investigators claim that without provocation, the eight entered the Iraqi town of Hamdania, took Awad from his home, tied him up, put him in a hole and shot him.
After the killing, the troops placed an AK-47 in Awad's hands and put a shovel in the hole to make it appear Awad was an insurgent planting explosives, investigators allege.
Attorney Joseph Casas, who represents Private first class John Jodka, one of the eight in the brig, said the investigation details incidents separate from the killing in which the four other Marines allegedly engaged in misconduct.
"There are some allegations that indicate [the officer] and some of the other Marines were engaged in some prior bad acts," Casas said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese