Raleigh, N.C. – Pfc. Lynndie England, the soldier seen in some of the most notorious photos with naked Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, will be court-martialed in January on charges of abusing detainees, the Army said Monday.
The 21-year-old reservist will be tried on 13 counts of abuse and six counts of indecent acts, said Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg.
England did not enter a plea when she was arraigned Friday. She faces a prison sentence of up to 38 years, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances if convicted.
The abuse charges include three counts of assault in which she is said to have stepped on the hands and feet of Iraqi detainees.
Another abuse charge includes conspiring to commit maltreatment of a detainee by posing in a photograph holding a leash around the naked prisoner’s neck.
England became a focal point of the scandal after the release of photos of her smiling and posing with nude prisoners stacked in a pyramid, pointing and flashing a thumb’s up.
The defense said England, a clerk not assigned to the cellblocks at Abu Ghraib, was asked by military intelligence agents to help “soften up” prisoners for interrogation.
