Iraqis call Lynndie England jail term travesty
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-28 21:21

Iraqis expressed fury on Wednesday over the three-year jail sentence for Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier notorious for holding a naked inmate by a leash in Abu Ghraib prison, saying it exposed American hypocrisy.

U.S. Army PFC Lynndie England is escorted from the courthouse in Fort Hood, Texas, September 27, 2005 after being convicted and sentenced to three years in prison on charges stemming from her involvement in the Iraq Abu Ghraib prison scandal that surfaced last year. [Reuters]

They said the sentence would have been more harsh had she been convicted of abusing Americans.

"America should be ashamed of this sentence. This is the best evidence that Americans have double standards," said Akram Abdel Amir, a retired bus driver in Baghdad.

"There are Iraqis in jail without any charge, just based on suspicion. But when it comes to Americans, the matter is totally different."

England, 22, was sentenced on Tuesday by a U.S. military court after being convicted of abuse, including being photographed pointing to the genitals of a naked Iraqi prisoner.

The former West Virginia chicken factory worker, who had faced a maximum sentence of nine years, was also given a dishonorable discharge.

She is the last of a group of U.S. soldiers to be convicted of abuse at Abu Ghraib, including her former boyfriend and the father of her child, Charles Graner, who is serving 10 years.

"If the abuse was committed against Americans I am sure the sentence would be much harsher. The sentence is nothing compared to what she has done," said laborer Muntasser Abdel Moneim, 30.

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