I just got this Facebook post.
I am SOOOOOOO thankful – after a big scare yesterday, word from Mitch Brown is that Carl is sentenced to a Letter of Reprimand and a $1500 fine for 12 months. HE IS STILL A CPT & WILL NOT BE GOING TO JAIL!!!!!!!!!” WOOHOO!!!! Carl Bjork is a FREE man!
EVERGREEN – The father of a local army captain called his son’s sentence on two counts of negligence and one count of reckless endangerment in the deaths of Iraqi civilians a “huge victory” on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Bjork’s father Peter Bjork says his son was “reprimanded” in his sentencing in Baghdad by having one-third of his salary taken for one year. Bjork could have received up to seven years behind bars, a dishonorable discharge and could have had his entire salary deducted.
“Clearly a huge victory and relief for us all,” Peter Bjork wrote in an e-mail to 9NEWS. “We are all overjoyed.”
The sentencing stemmed from a December 2006 incident.
The Facebook group in support of Carl Bjork has been growing as more and more concerned citizens find the story of Carl. Please help us to support our brave and honest friend.
This is a *must* listen to interview with Major Bill Donahue, USMC Ret., Vicki Behenna, Mother of Army Lt. Michael Behenna, Tim Parlatore, Attorney for Cpl. Corey Clagett, Erica Bjork Manning, Sister of Capt. Carl Bjork and Dr. Stjepen Mestrovic, Socialogist and Professor at Texas A&M.
The trial is postponed until April 21st 2010.
Kelly (Carl’s Lawyer) says the military wants to hold the first half of the trial in Iraq and the second half of the trial in the United States.
The United States military has decided to refer charges against an Army captain from Evergreen who is accused of ordering Iraqi officers to kill two Iraqi civilians.
His case will now go before a court martial by March 1.
The referred charges against Capt. Carl Bjork include one count of reckless endangerment and two counts of premeditated murder. The charges were initially “proffered” on Nov. 3, 2009.
Bjork’s father, Peter Bjork, told 9NEWS the charges were referred on Monday.
“I see it as a slap in the face,” Peter Bjork said. “Particularly when you consider not just what he’s done for our country, but the fact that they’ve let this thing hang here for three years.”
The alleged incident happened in December 2006. Bjork’s attorney, Victor Kelly, told 9NEWS that in the 20 years he has served as a military lawyer, he has never seen a case drag out as long as Bjork’s.
TUSR has followed this case since its inception, and, based on available facts, we have openly advocated for redress for the captain. Bjork will face trial on murder charges. Bjork’s sister Erica sums the situation up: “[C]arl was sent back to the States and was told that he was under investigation for a double murder that occurred during his 2006-2007 deployment in Hit, Al Anbar Province, Iraq. His accusers, who are the only witnesses/evidence in this alleged crime, are four disgraced former Iraqi police who are imprisoned for the murder of two Iraqi civilians – believed to be Iraqi al queda.[sic]”
According to Erica, the captain was not present at the alleged murder—“He simply trained the Iraqi police as part of his duty.”
Not much is really known, apart from that. We do know those who grew up with or fought with Bjork hold him in the highest regard. A Facebook group formed to support Bjork has grown to 7, 983 members.
Bjork’s primary accuser is a man named Col. Ibrahim Hamid Jaza. Yon unravels events in Iraq that caused Jaza to morph from hero to villain. Yon describes Jaza’s contributions to eliminating AQI (al Qaeda Iraq) from the region and he offers an interesting aside—AQI, said Yon, “beheaded Hamid’s son on a soccer field in the center of Hit in 2005.”
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/the-final-option.htm
Carl’s family has set up a site in order to take donations to assist in his legal representation fees. In true Carl fashion he wanted to make sure this was included:
I am very touched but please let everyone know that I am NOT asking them for money – Carl Bjork
A very disappointing day… we just received word that Carl’s case has, in fact, been referred by the general. Carl will be going to trial. We don’t have a date as of yet, but know it MUST start by March 2nd (120 days after he was officially charged). Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, and PLEASE don’t …stop! Unfortunately this is not over.
Erica Manning via Facebook
The conflict began with the Army’s sudden arrest of an Iraqi police colonel, Ibrahim Hamid Jaza, and detention of his officers in May 2007.
Jaza, the police chief in Hit (pronounced heat), a city in the often violent Anbar province, had been credited with restoring order by aggressively pursuing insurgents in his domain. In turn, they had abducted a member of the colonel’s immediate family and publicly beheaded him on a soccer field.
Revenge killings followed. Sometime between Nov. 15, 2006, and the end of the year, Jaza and two other Iraqi police officials executed Al-Kubaysi and Saba’ar, according to the Army charge sheet.
The suspects told investigators they had been ordered to carry out those killings by the officer in charge of training them — Capt. Carl Bjork.
Until then, Bjork had an exemplary record and a promising military career.
Bjork had left Evergreen High to attend Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri when he needed some “guidance,” his father said. He stayed at Wentworth for two years of junior college, graduating at the top of his class, then earned a degree from the University of Colorado and accepted a commission as an Army officer.
“I think at first it was the discipline and sense of purpose” that attracted Bjork to the Army, longtime friend Josh Boyles said, but it evolved into a chance see the world. While based in Europe, “Carl went running with the bulls in Pamplona, St. Patty’s day in Ireland, scuba diving in Greece.”
Bjork was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service and a commendation for valor, and had been approved for training as a Green Beret.
Now, the 28-year-old faces the prospect of spending his life behind bars.
Bjork called Victor Kelley, a retired Marine who formed the National Military Justice Group and has defended hundreds of servicemen and women.
At Camp Victory in Iraq, an Article 32 hearing — analogous to a grand jury hearing in civilian courts — concluded there was sufficient evidence to proceed to a court-martial.
