The judge at the court martial of three British soldiers accused in the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees on Thursday urged British officials — including Prime Minister Tony Blair — to restrain their comments to avoid prejudicing the jury.
The judge’s remarks followed statements by Blair in the House of Commons on Wednesday in which he called photographs that are the key evidence in the case ”shocking and appalling”.
Judge Michael Hunter noted that Blair had been asked about the case by lawmakers.
”The prime minister could not sensibly refuse to make such a statement,” Hunter said in court in Osnabrueck, Germany.
”But I would ask that great care be taken by those who find it necessary to make public statements not to say anything that might prejudice the fairness of the trial,” Hunter said.
He cautioned that if officials must comment, ”I would suggest that legal advice be sought beforehand.”
Hunter’s remarks followed a morning of legal arguments that have interrupted testimony in the case. Under court rules aimed at ensuring a fair trial, those legal arguments may not be reported.
The trial at a British base in Germany revolves around photographs taken by a soldier from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who was arrested in England after bringing the film to be developed.
The photos show a bound Iraqi being dangled over a loading dock by a forklift, another being subjected to a simulated kick and a simulated punch, and both Iraqis stripped and forced to feign sexual acts together.
The pictures have provoked widespread dismay in Britain and uncomfortable comparisons with the scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
The mistreatment allegedly happened in May 2003 at a humanitarian aid warehouse compound outside Basra, where the three soldiers were posted after British forces moved into southern Iraq.
On Wednesday, lawyers argued that defendants were following orders to get tough with captured looters and had unclear legal guidance on how to treat common criminals as the army shifted from war to a policing role.
Lance Corporal Darren Larkin (30) has pleaded guilty to one count of battery after prosecutors alleged he was the man shown in a photo standing with both feet on a tied-up Iraqi lying on the ground.
Larkin and Lance Corporal Mark Cooley (25) denied all other charges.
Cooley is charged with tethering the detainee to the forklift and driving it. He also is charged with simulating a kick and a punch against the other detainee, seen in two separate photos.
Corporal Daniel Kenyon (33), the highest-ranking defendant, is charged with several counts of failing to report abuse to superiors. He has pleaded not guilty. — Sapa-AP