[quote]Royal Marine Sergeant Alexander Blackman has been sentenced to life by a court martial for murdering an insurgent in Afghanistan.
Blackman, 39, has been told he will spend at least 10 years in prison.
The sentencing comes a day after three judges at the High Court lifted an anonymity order allowing Blackman - known as Marine A throughout his trial - to be named.[/quote]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25266206[/url]
BBC Breaking news, more information to follow
Unjustly murder an enemy combatant in a war zone and get life
Murder a British citizen get 22 years max, 15 if I'm well behaved and go on a rehabilitation course, 24 hours community service and apologize to the family
[QUOTE=Midas22;43089000]Unjustly murder an enemy combatant in a war zone and get life
Murder a British citizen get 22 years max, 15 if I'm well behaved and go on a rehabilitation course, 24 hours community service and apologize to the family[/QUOTE]
he is being made an example of. war is not about killing the enemy. what he did put him on the same level as the people he was fighting.
i really don't think you know much about the law, each case is dealt with separately and a lot of violent or sexual offenders are not released until they prove they are ready to rejoin society, meaning a murderer could be in jail his entire life for killing one person.
this was a completely intentional execution -of an injured prisoner no less-, he knew what he did was totally against the law and even tried to cover it up iirc
Well I'm still not comfortable with them compromising his Persec. That's a decision that will punish his family, not him, since he's already shut up at Colchester. This sets a scary precedent; within the military court system, the practice of disclosing the names of controversial soldiers, and within the armed forces as a whole, I think there is going to be an air of distrust for the MOD. We can no longer trust them to protect our security, while they spend so much time lecturing us on how important it is to do so.
[QUOTE=Midas22;43089000]Unjustly murder an enemy combatant in a war zone and get life
Murder a British citizen get 22 years max, 15 if I'm well behaved and go on a rehabilitation course, 24 hours community service and apologize to the family[/QUOTE]
we should be holding soldiers -[I]royal marines[/I] no less- to a higher standard
it doesn't help Sgt. Blackman here that this was a cold blooded execution whereas most murders are results of sudden rage
[QUOTE=barrab;43089135]he is being made an example of. war is not about killing the enemy. what he did put him on the same level as the people he was fighting.
[/QUOTE]
That's sort of what happens in a war like this. There's only so much the human mind can take. You see your buddies attacked by yabbering, heroin-hopped fanatics and eventually you just snap.
Yea, I remeber the thread when he was getting put on tral. It sounded like a stupid case, but from I read that was on the tape it was cold calculated execution were he even moved the body to hide it from the helicopter watching them.
This is the story where he killed that insurgent who was almost dead, isn't it? Or something like that?
I'm half and half on it, honestly. Considering he -WAS- an enemy combatant, but the fact he made it cold murder instead of just killing the enemy.
[QUOTE=NoobieWafer223;43091168]This is the story where he killed that insurgent who was almost dead, isn't it? Or something like that?
I'm half and half on it, honestly. Considering he -WAS- an enemy combatant, but the fact he made it cold murder instead of just killing the enemy.[/QUOTE]
For reference, from the BBC article earlier in the case about a month ago.
[quote]The Afghan prisoner was seriously injured by gunfire from an Apache helicopter sent to provide air support, and the marines found him in a field.
In one conversation between Marine A and C about shooting the man, one serviceman is overheard asking "Anyone want to give first aid to this idiot?" before another replies loudly "Nope."
In another, Marine C was heard asking A if he should shoot the man in the head, but Marine A said that would be too "obvious".
It showed Marine A shooting the Afghan prisoner with a 9mm pistol, and saying: "There, shuffle off this mortal coil... It's nothing you wouldn't do to us."
He adds: "Obviously this doesn't go anywhere fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention," to which Marine B replies: "Yeah, roger mate."[/quote]
This is an execution, plain and simple. They even knew what they were doing wasn't allowed, and specifically took steps to murder him in a fashion that would seem as if he had simply died in a firefight.
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