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Thursday, 12 January 2006, 14:45 GMT

Five Danes guilty of Iraq abuse

Annemette Hommel A Danish army captain and four military police sergeants have been found guilty of abusing prisoners while they were based in southern Iraq.

But the judge ruled that because of "extenuating circumstances", the five would not be punished.

He said they had not received clear guidelines from the Danish military.

Capt Annemette Hommel and the others were convicted of verbal humiliation and forcing prisoners to maintain painful postures during interrogation.

Hard line

Capt Hommel, 38, and the four other defendants had denied the accusations relating to tours of duty in 2004.

"The defendants are to a certain degree found guilty, but due to extenuating circumstances there is no basis for a sentence"
Judge Jorgen Lougart

The captain, who was ordered to return home from Iraq before her tour of duty ended, said she had done nothing wrong.

Leaving court, she told reporters she thought the court had "opted for an unnecessarily hard line".

Last year, she said the allegations stemmed from a misunderstanding with the Palestinian translators working at the camp, who had objected to her interrogation techniques.

Denmark has about 500 troops in southern Iraq, based near Basra.



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