March 28, 2004
Conscientious objector faces charges
The U.S. Army has charged Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia of North Miami -- who extended a two-week leave into a five-month absence -- with desertion from the war in Iraq, authorities said Friday.
Mejia, 28, was the first soldier to refuse to go back to the war and publicly declare himself a conscientious objector.
He was absent without leave for five months before surfacing and returning last week to his unit in Fort Stewart, Ga.
Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a public affairs officer at Fort Stewart, said senior commander Maj. Gen. William Webster referred Mejia's case to a special court-martial.
If convicted, the maximum sentence Mejia could face: a year in confinement and a bad conduct discharge.
''The next step is for a military judge to docket the case,'' Kent said. ``Because they are so busy, it's hard to predict when the case will go to trial.''
''The defense for Sgt. Mejia will have to decide whether to request a trial by other soldiers or by the military judge alone,'' Kent said.
Military trials are typically open to the public unless national security issues arise, he said. Then a judge can close the proceeding. Mejia has been assigned to administrative duties in the meantime, he said.
Army officials have also restricted Mejia to Fort Stewart and have barred him from conducting face-to-face interviews with the media, said Tod Ensign, a leading national GI rights advocate and one of his attorneys.
Posted by Norwood at March 28, 2004 10:09 AM