By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison and three others, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting hat killed 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square, after being convicted in October.

Judge Lamberth announced the sentences after a daylong hearing at which defense lawyers have argues for leniency and presented character witnesses for their clients. The defense argued, saying decades-long sentences would be unconstitutionally harsh for men who operated in a war-torn environment. Prosecutors described the shooting as an unprovoked ambush of civilians and said that the men have not shown any remorse or taken responsibility for their part in the incident. Lamberth stated, “based on the seriousness of the crimes, I find the penalty is not excessive.”

Families of the victims spoke in favor of harsh sentences, including Mohammad Kinani Al-Razzaaq, whose 9-year-old son was killed in the incident. Al-Razzaq demanded that the court show Blackwater “what the law is.”

However, it is unlkely that the sentencing hearing will be the last for these men. Even before the trial began, defense lawyers identified issues, which would form the basis of an appeal, including whether there was proper jurisdiction to charge the defendants in the first place.

The men were charfed under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which covers overseas crimes of Defense Department civilian employees, military contractors and others who are supportingthe American war mission. The defense argues that the Blackwater defendants worked as State Department contractors and were not military.

 

For more information, please see the following:

AL JAZEERA – Blackwater Guards Sentences in 2007 Shooting – 13 April 2015.

MSNBC – Ex-Blackwater Guards Hit With Lengthy Prison Sentences – 13 April 2015.

US NEWS – Blackwater Guards Who Slaughtered 14 Iraqis Get 30 Years, Life – 13 April 2015.