Canadian Charged in Killing of Afghan
By REUTERS and printed in the New Your Times
Published: September 18, 2009
OTTAWA (Reuters) — A Canadian Army officer has been charged with shooting and killing a wounded Afghan insurgent last October, the Canadian military said Friday. It is the first case of its kind since Canada initially sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002.
The army officer, Capt. Robert Semrau, will face a court-martial on charges of second-degree murder, attempting to commit murder, negligence and behaving in a disgraceful manner, the Canadian Defense Department said in a statement.
The department, which did not indicate when the court-martial was likely to begin, said at an earlier hearing that the insurgent had been unarmed when he was killed.
The announcement of the court-martial comes amid growing dissatisfaction among Afghans over the number of civilians who are being killed by United States and NATO-led troops, most of them in airstrikes.
Canada has about 2,700 troops based in the city of Kandahar. In all, 131 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.
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Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
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