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FORT STEWART, Ga. - A soldier who said he refused to return to duty because he opposes the war in Iraq left his unit as its job became more dangerous, his commanding officer testified Thursday. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, an infantryman with the Florida National Guard, is charged with desertion after failing to return to his unit in Iraq after a two-week furlough in October. He said his experiences in Iraq turned him against the war, and he claims he deserted his unit partly to avoid orders to abuse Iraqi prisoners. Capt. A.J. Balbo, the lead prosecutor, said in his...

A soldier convicted Friday of deserting his U.S. Army unit in Iraq is the son of Nicaragua's most prominent leftist singer, who wrote the line "Let's fight the Yankee, enemy of humanity" into Nicaragua's former Sandinista anthem. The father, Carlos Mejia Godoy, condemned Friday's verdict, saying his son, Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, was convicted and sentenced to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge in retaliation for having mentioned abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers. "We expected this verdict," Mejia Godoy said, noting "my son's situation worsened after he bravely revealed the torture he had witnessed against...

A military jury convicted a U.S. soldier Friday of desertion for leaving his combat unit in Iraq in protest of an ''oil-driven'' war. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia of the Florida National Guard was found guilty by a jury of four officers and four enlisted soldiers. Jurors deliberated almost two hours. He faces up to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge and was to be sentenced Friday afternoon. Mejia, 28, failed to return after a two-week furlough in October and was missing from the Army for five months before turning himself in in March.

May 21, 7:15 PM (ET) By RUSS BYNUM (AP) Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, right, an infantry squad leader in the Florida National Guard, shakes... FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - A U.S. soldier who said he left his unit in Iraq to protest an "oil-driven" war was convicted of desertion Friday and sentenced to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge. A military jury met for about 20 minutes before giving the maximum sentence to Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, an infantry squad leader with the Florida National Guard. "I have no regrets. Not one," Mejia said before his sentencing....

Son of Sandinista poet charged with desertion by US army solidarity From es-solidarity, Mon, 5 April 2004 The case of Camilo Mejia, the first soldier to refuse to return to Iraq on grounds of conscience, is rapidly becoming a touchstone for both the anti-war movement and the US military. Mejia, a Nicaraguan who lives in the United States and who is the son of Carlos Mejia Godoy, Nicaragua's great poet/singer of the Sandinista Revolution, first went into hiding at the end of a two-week furlough, and then surrendered voluntarily to the military authorities, proclaiming himself a conscientious objector. The army...

No Print on it yet just breaking

Anti-War Soldier Convicted of Desertion Friday, May 21, 2004 FORT STEWART, Ga. — A military jury on Friday convicted a U.S. soldier of desertion for leaving his combat unit in Iraq in protest of the war. A panel of four officers and four enlisted soldiers found Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia (search) of the Florida National Guard guilty during a court-martial at Fort Stewart. The 28-year-old Mejia of Miami Beach was missing five months before he turned himself in.

Savannah, Ga. _ A soldier who says he refused to report to duty because he opposes the war in Iraq will be assigned regular duties while commanders decide whether to prosecute him for a five-month absence, a Fort Stewart official said Wednesday. The Army has no immediate plans to charge or arrest Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia when he returns to the post, said Maj. Robert Resnick, chief of military justice at Fort Stewart. "He's not going to be singled out for any different type of treatment," Resnick said. Mejia, 28, a Florida National Guardsman, is seeking conscientious objector status. On...

MIAMI -- Army commanders at Fort Stewart, Georgia are trying to decide whether to prosecute a Florida National Guardsman who refused to return to his deployment in Iraq. Maj. Robert Resnick, chief of military justice at Fort Stewart, said the Army had no immediate plans to charge or arrest Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia when he returned to the Georgia Army post. In the meantime, an Army official said Wednesday that Mejia will perform regular duties at Fort Stewart. Mejia, 28, of Miami Beach, left Iraq on a two-week leave in October, but did not return to his unit. He spent...

Staff sergeant seeks conscientious objector status, says he will not take part in `oil-driven war' NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - A U.S. soldier who refused to return to Iraq after seeing civilians killed reported to his unit in Florida on Tuesday and said he would go to prison rather than take part in "an oil-driven war." Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who is seeking to be declared a conscientious objector, met with officials at his Florida National Guard unit after repeating his determination not to return to the Middle East and fight. "I'm prepared to go to prison because I'll have a...