Soldier Acquitted in Beatings of Detainees in Afghanistan

FT. BLISS, Texas — An Army private was acquitted Thursday of charges that he abused inmates at a U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan.

Pfc. Damien M. Corsetti was the last soldier charged in the Army’s investigations of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan. He cried with relief when the court-martial panel cleared him of charges of assault, maltreatment, dereliction of duty, using hashish and drinking on duty.

The panel deliberated for about 30 minutes.

“I just said, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ ” said Corsetti, 26, of the verdict.

Corsetti was accused of mistreating detainees at a jail at Bagram air base in 2002 and 2003. Army prosecutors said he hit, kicked, sat on and threatened to sexually assault the men.

Ahmed Al Darbi, an inmate at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, whose brother-in-law was a Sept. 11 hijacker, identified Corsetti as his abuser.

William E. Cassara, Corsetti’s civilian lawyer, argued that jail rules were unclear and that Darbi was a terrorist trained to lie about abuses by U.S. soldiers.