U.S. Army Subpoenas Independent Journalist to Testify in Court-Martial of War Resister First Lt. Ehren Watada

First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first commissioned officer to refuse his orders to deploy to Iraq on June 22nd, 2006. He is facing court-martialed and the pre-trial hearing begins on Thursday. Watada faces one charge of missing troop movement, and four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. Each of the later four charges relates to Lt. Watada's public explanations of his refusal to deploy to Iraq.

The U.S. Army has subpoenaed independent journalist Sarah Olsen to testify at the upcoming hearing. Sarah Olson interviewed Lt. Watada last May -- the Army says statements he made during Olson's interview constitute one charge of conduct unbecoming an officer. The Army has placed another journalist - Dahr Jamail - on the prosecution witness list.

If convicted of all charges Watada faces six years in prison, four of which would be for speaking to the press.

* Sarah Olson
, independent journalist and radio producer

* Dahr Jamail
, an independent journalist who has covered the Middle East extensively. He publishes his reports on a blog called DahrJamailIraq.com.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/02/1527206