Tuesday, a CIA agent who gave a secret testimony to protect his name said that he saw a Navy SEAL “beat up” an unarmed prisoner in Iraq. The agent said that he hit a prisoner who had a Navy SEAL on his back. The agent said he told a top CIA official on the ground about what happened in October 2003. The official told the Navy commander that this kind of behavior was not okay.
The lieutenant’s hearing went on for a second day on Tuesday. Andrew K. Ledford is accused of letting his Navy SEALs hurt prisoners, including one who later died.
Earlier on Tuesday, former Petty Officer Dan Cerrillo stated that he was a Navy SEAL who attacked the prisoner and pressed his face into the sand. He did this while he was under immunity.
But Cerillo, who was in Ledford’s Foxtrot platoon, said he was following orders from “these people we shouldn’t be talking about.” This is a way for witnesses and lawyers to talk about CIA without mentioning them. One of the many ways to say office. (Other terms include “the agency,” “another government agency,” and “security staff.”) Cerrillo told the jury in Ledford’s case, “If [the prisoner] doesn’t answer, I let him talk.”
“In the middle of [the incident], the security guy told me not to punch the detainee in the face because that would make it hard for him to get her out,” said Cerillo, who was later hurt in Iraq and left the Navy for a few years. weeks ago.
When CIA agents speak in court about classified or secret information, the public is not allowed to be there. As he kept talking, the public was kept behind a screen by the agent protecting him. During the part of the CIA agent’s evidence that wasn’t secret, none of the six jurors asked any questions — even though they were allowed to — that could have brought his view of events into line with Cerrillo’s. During the whole thing, a lawyer for the CIA was there.
The attack happened at the end of October 2003, when SEALs and CIA agents worked together to catch “senior” Iraqis who were thought to be attackers.
Two weeks later, Navy SEALs nabbed Manadel Jamadi because they thought he was involved in an attack that killed 12 people at a Red Cross building in Baghdad. After being questioned by the CIA, Jammadi was taken to Abu Ghraib jail, where he died. The Interpol began to look into a murder. Jamadi’s death has not been linked to any charges, but 10 SEALs have been accused of mistreating him and other inmates.
Some Navy people are upset that no CIA workers or agents have been charged. When asked what he thought about the Ledford case, Cerrillo said, “I’m not too happy about it because I don’t think it’s right.” Ledford is being charged with not doing his job, lying, acting badly, and attack.
Frank Spinner, the lawyer for the defense, told the jury that the prosecutors would not bring up any witnesses to show that Ledford saw the crimes or knew that SEALs under his direction hurt prisoners. In his opening remarks, Lieutenant Jonathan Freimann, one of the prosecutors, said that Ledford was guilty of “failure to lead.” On Tuesday, two inmates from Ledford’s row of 16 said that they punched and kicked other prisoners, including Jamadi.