14 DAY TRIAL // Two officers in the U.S. Marine have been charged over an offensive video showing them urinating over the corpses of Afghan insurgents.
Captain James V. Clement and noncommissioned officer (NCO) Sgt. Robert W. Richards will be tried for violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, writes Marine Corps Times.
Richards shot the photos and video of the human casualties during the incident that took place in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, near Sandala, Afghanistan.
According to UPI, the clip was captured in July 2011, and the men uploaded it to YouTube in January 2012.
The pair are being accused of dereliction of duty, violation of a lawful general order and unbecoming conduct for a Marine officer.
Clement was heading the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines at the time. He failed to stop and properly supervise the officers and report their gross misconduct, for which he has also been charged.
He will additionally have to answer for making false statements during questioning by a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigator and for his conduct being “prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the armed forces.”
Richards was a team leader in Kilo Company during the period in which the video was captured.
He has been dubbed responsible for indiscriminately firing weapons and failing to follow protocol in his supervision of other officers, as well as failing to report their actions to superiors.
Lt. Gen. Richard Mills will be presiding over an Article 32 hearing for the case, the date of which has not been set at this point. The hearing will be taking place in Quantico, reports say.
Meanwhile, the NCO is still attached to the 3/2 unit, while Clement has been reassigned to The Basic School at Marine Corps Quantico base.