US Army Specialist Charles Graner, the accused ringleader of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal that outraged the world, goes on trial later today and is ready to offer a defence that he was just following orders.
Graner and Private Lynndie England, with whom he fathered a child and who is also facing a court-martial, became the faces of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal after they appeared in photographs that showed degraded, naked prisoners.
Graner, 36, a reservist who had worked as a prison guard in the United States, faces 17-1/2 years in prison on charges that include conspiracy to mistreat detainees, dereliction of duty, maltreating detainees and assault.
Prosecutors say they plan to introduce photographs, videos of abuses and testimony from about 10 people in the case, which will last one or two weeks. With Graner's actions documented, his attorneys will argue he was only following orders.
"Specialist Graner received orders from his direct superiors. There is going to be evidence that he complained about the orders. He thought perhaps that they were improper," his lawyer Guy Womack told reporters at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday.
"And he challenged them. He did exactly what you're supposed to do within the law of war. He asked for clarification from his superiors. On every occasion, his superiors told him the orders were lawful," he said.
The US government said yesterday it was dropping four of the 14 charges, but the core of the case remained.
Four of seven members of his unit have already pleaded guilty to abuse charges and three have been sentenced to prison. The scandal sparked international outrage and further eroded America's credibility, already damaged by the decision to invade Iraq.
The Bush Administration and military leaders have blamed the abuses on a small group of soldiers and said there was no policy of mishandling prisoners.