JURIST - Paper Chase: Spanish judge wants to question US soldiers about Spanish journo's Iraq death

[JURIST] A Spanish court official said Tuesday that a Spanish judge wants to question three US soldiers in connection with the 2003 killing of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso in Iraq when a US tank fired on a Baghdad hotel housing foreign journalists. High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz began requesting information [JURIST report] about the death of Couso in 2004, although the Pentagon had previously cleared the soldiers [Reporters Without Borders report] of any responsibility. If questioned in Spanish court, the soldiers would be treated as suspects for murder facing a sentence of 15 to 20 years in jail, and for allegedly committing crimes against the international community which carries a sentence of 10 to 15 years in jail. An anonymous US State Department source told Reuters it would be "a very, very cold day in hell before that would ever happen", and legal sources for the US Army also say that it is unlikely that the soldiers would be questioned. If warrants were issued for the soldiers' arrest, they would only be valid for arrest in Spain. Reuters has more.

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