A military jury recommended a reprimand Wednesday for the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal, sparing him any prison time for disobeying an order to keep silent about the abuse investigation.
The jury had acquitted Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan a day earlier of all three charges directly
related to the mistreatment of detainees at the U.S.-run prison in Iraq.
Those acquittals absolved Jordan, 51, [pictured right, with arm around son] of responsibility for the actions of 11 lower-ranking soldiers who have already been convicted for their roles at Abu Ghraib. The allegations surfaced after the release of photographs showing U.S. soldiers grinning alongside naked detainees held in humiliating positions at the prison.
Jordan was convicted of a single charge: disobeying a general’s order not to discuss the abuse investigation. The defense conceded that Jordan e-mailed a number of soldiers [and tipped them off] about the investigation after meeting with Maj. Gen. George Fay in spring 2004. The reprimand was the lightest sentence the jury could have recommended.