An Iraqi court on Sunday freed two men accused of being part of a hundreds-strong mob that killed six British troops in 2003, angering the soldiers’ parents, but drawing smiles from those in the courtroom.
Judge Baligh Hamdi’s decision to throw out the case against Hamza Hateer, 33, and Mussa Ismael al-Fartusi, 39, means no one has yet been convicted over the military policemen’s killing, though seven arrest warrants remain outstanding.
“The court did not see sufficient proof to condemn you and has decided to release you,” the judge told the pair in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq after hearing from eight witnesses, all of them serving or retired policemen.
The six troops were killed when a mob of about 400 people attacked a police station in Majar Al-Kabir, southern Iraq, on June 24, 2003.
Four Iraqis were also killed and 17 injured in the incident, according to then-village chief Abu Maryam.
In Britain, the father of one of the killed policemen, 21-year-old Corporal Simon Miller, said that he was “devastated” by the news.
John Miller, 59, from northeast England, said: “My son was let down so badly in life, now he has been let down so badly in death. I’m devastated, I just can’t believe it.”
In the courtroom, however, Iraqis attending the hearing broke out into smiles after the judge announced the charges were being dropped.
“It is not logical to accuse Iraqis of killing soldiers occupying our country,” said a court employee who did not want to give his name.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence pledged to continue pressing for those behind the killings to be prosecuted.
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