Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
December 14, 2006
Pg. 17
A soldier who refused to redeploy to Iraq with her unit amid claims of sexual harassment and coercion by her superiors was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in military prison for going AWOL.
Army Spec. Suzanne Swift, 22, formally pleaded guilty to charges of being away without leave and missing a troop movement in a closed-door proceeding at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Swift, part of the 42nd Military Police Brigade, will be assigned to a new job and unit after her sentence ends. As part of an agreement reached last week, she will not have a federal conviction on her record and will be eligible for an honorable discharge upon completing her enlistment, in about 2 1⁄2 years.
Military officials said the judicial process showed the Army to be thorough and fair. For Swift, it was important that “we got the government to acknowledge that her story has merit,” said her lawyer, Keith Scherer. “Even if Suzanne wasn’t violently raped, she was still a victim of sexual misconduct.”
December 14, 2006
Pg. 17
A soldier who refused to redeploy to Iraq with her unit amid claims of sexual harassment and coercion by her superiors was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in military prison for going AWOL.
Army Spec. Suzanne Swift, 22, formally pleaded guilty to charges of being away without leave and missing a troop movement in a closed-door proceeding at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Swift, part of the 42nd Military Police Brigade, will be assigned to a new job and unit after her sentence ends. As part of an agreement reached last week, she will not have a federal conviction on her record and will be eligible for an honorable discharge upon completing her enlistment, in about 2 1⁄2 years.
Military officials said the judicial process showed the Army to be thorough and fair. For Swift, it was important that “we got the government to acknowledge that her story has merit,” said her lawyer, Keith Scherer. “Even if Suzanne wasn’t violently raped, she was still a victim of sexual misconduct.”