Army Drops Chaplain Charges
All charges have been dropped against the Army Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents at Guantanamo Bay, which houses suspected terrorists, the Army said Friday.
Capt. James Yee will be allowed to return his previous duty station at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Wash., said Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.
The Army charged Yee last September with mishandling classified material, failing to obey an order, making a false official statement, adultery and conduct unbecoming an officer for allegedly downloading pornography on his government laptop.
His lawyer said last week that a proposed settlement was in the works.
Miller said Yee will be offered nonjudicial punishment for allegations of adultery and pornography.
Via Howard Bashman
Update: WaPo has more:
The U.S. military announced last night* that it had dropped its court-martial proceedings against Army Capt. James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay prison, saying there was a danger that national security matters could be compromised in upcoming hearings.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of the prison on a U.S. naval base in Cuba, decided to drop the allegations that Yee mishandled classified material because moving forward with the legal proceedings could have ended with the public release of the very sensitive documents he was carrying, a military spokesman said.
*This is in the Saturday edition, although it’s on the Web Friday night.
