General

Verdict reached in Semrau trial

Decision expected at 2:00 p.m.

Capt. Robert Semrau, the Canadian soldier accused of mercy killing a badly wounded Taliban fighter, will hear his fate within the hour. The four-member military jury assigned to decide his case has reached a decision, and a Canadian Forces spokesman says the verdict will be read in court at 2:00 p.m. Witnesses say Semrau, a married father of two young daughters, fired a pair of bullets into the chest of a severely injured enemy fighter in Afghanistan in October 2008, and then told his comrades that he couldn’t live with himself if he let the man suffer. Semrau’s defence team did not submit any evidence at trial, other than to argue that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the captain committed murder. Semrau is charged with second-degree murder, and if convicted, the minimum sentence is life behind bars with no chance of parole for ten years.

Source: macleans.ca

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