- WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US army
military tribunal has dismissed charges of cowardice and dereliction of
duty in Iraq against a US soldier who was to have had a pre-trial hearing
Friday.
-
- Staff Sergeant Georg Pogany, 32, was rotated back to
the states last month after a tour of duty in Iraq.
-
- The New York Times reported that Pogany, an intelligence
specialist with a degree in criminology, suffered a "panic attack"
after seeing the body of an Iraqi mutilated by machinegun fire and was
unable to continue his job interrogating captured suspects.
-
- Pogany testified that he suffered nausea and dizziness
after seeing the body, and asked for help from his superiors -- who gave
him two aspirin and told him to lie down.
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- When he asked for additional time to regain his composure,
Pogany was confined to quarters, accused of "cowardice," and
sent back to the United States two days later.
-
- The army then charged him with "cowardice"
and "dereliction of duty" and scheduled a pre-court martial hearing
for Friday.
-
- But in a statement issued Friday at Fort Carson, Colorado,
the army said the initial charges against Pogany had been dismissed and
the hearing cancelled.
-
- "Anyone accused of a crime is presumed to be innocent
unless and until proven guilty," said the statement. "In order
to protect SSG Pogany's due process rights, we cannot discuss the specifics
of the investigation."
-
- It said Pogany was still liable to be prosecuted on other
charges, for which a hearing would be scheduled.
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