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Court martial for rape accused
25/04/2008 10:35 - (SA)
Tokyo - The US military announced on Friday that it was court-martialling a Marine accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Japan, in a case that triggered outrage in the close US ally.
Staff Sergent Tyrone L Hadnott, 38, was charged with rape of a minor and making false official statements, even though he was controversially released by Japanese prosecutors.
The Marine was accused of raping the girl in February in his car on the southern island of Okinawa, which is home to more than half of the 40 000 US troops based in Japan.
A US Marines statement said that commanders decided to send him to a general court martial for five violations of the military code "as a result of a Marine Corps investigation".
The statement said the charges were "merely accusations" and that the court martial dates have not yet been set.
"The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial," the statement said.
Outrage
Hadnott, who lived off base, was arrested by Japanese authorities. But prosecutors declined to indict him after the girl dropped the case, apparently because she did not want to be in the public glare.
The case outraged Japanese leaders who have called for stricter discipline on US troops, who are stationed under a treaty to protect officially pacifist Japan.
Okinawa, which was under US control from 1945 to 1972, has often seen friction with US troops. In 1995, thousands took to the streets after three US servicemen gang-raped a 12-year-old girl.
The court martial came one day after Japanese prosecutors indicted another US serviceman, a Nigerian national who deserted the US Navy, on charges of stabbing to death a taxi driver near Tokyo.
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