RAF war objector jailed for eight months!

[AGENDA21]

An RAF doctor who refused to serve in Iraq because he thought that the war was illegal has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

Flight Lieutenant Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, was also dismissed from the RAF by a panel of fellow officers after he was found guilty of disobeying five lawful orders for refusing to travel in Basra last year.

Snip...

Today, his solicitor, Justin Hugheston-Roberts, said that the airman, the first officer charged with disobeying orders in Iraq, was "clearly upset" by the verdict but determined to bring an appeal.

Snip..

"Obedience of orders is at the heart of any disciplined force. Disobedience of orders means it is not a disciplined force, it is a disorganised rabble," said the judge. "Those who wear the Queen’s uniform cannot pick and choose which orders they obey and those who do so must face the consequences."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2132974,00.html

[Kagemusha]

1. In other words, the Nuremburg Defense is back.

All that's required is the confidence that only the losers end up at Nuremburgs is necessary to ensure that similar results occur if orders to commit foul deeds are ever issued.

[NYC]

2. That's a shame. What about disobeying illegal orders?

..."Those who wear the Queen’s uniform cannot pick and choose which orders they obey and those who do so must face the consequences."...

Even if those orders are illegal?

[Vetinarii]

4. The hard part is proving that the orders are illegal

The judge in this case ruled that he wasn't going to listen to arguments on this subject.

He was very insistent that he wasn't going to let the court be used as a platform for political "grandstanding".

Personally, I think the defense counsel missed their cue here. The issue should be whether the defendant has a reasonably founded belief that the orders are illegal, and the court could have heard arguments on this subject without having to rule on the war itself. But I haven't looked at the transcripts, so I don't know whether they tried this, or whether it would have made any difference if they had.

[NYC]

5. The defendant said he needed to argue his case,

but the judge refused, calling it grandstanding.

That effectively eliminates the illegal order defense. So, do all soldiers have to obey all illegal orders because they now have no defense?

I suspect so.

[AGENDA21]

6. More info here..

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/04/uk-court-martial-begins-for-iraq-war.php

[400Years]

3. I would rather sit in jail than sit in hell

8 months as opposed to being sent to a hell hole for a lie?

No problem.