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Federal judge orders indicted Blackwater guards to report to DC court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A federal judge in Utah ruled Monday that five indicted Blackwater USA guards involved in the September 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians must report to a DC court. Lawyers for the five guards tried to move the proceedings to Utah, where one of the guards lives, but a federal magistrate judge in Salt Lake City agreed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the case should remain in DC. The guards, who had turned themselves over to federal authorities in Utah Monday, were ordered to report to a DC court on January 6. The five guards were indicted last Thursday on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence. The indictments were unsealed Monday. On Friday, a sixth guard pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the same incident. The Blackwater incident caused domestic outrage in Iraq and has prompted legal controversy in the US. In November, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into the incident concluded that the shootings were unjustified. Last month Bush administration officials announced that Iraq security contractors would be losing immunity from Iraqi law under the recently approved US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Iraq.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 09, 2008 (boomark / email).