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Marine Corps Plans Court-Martial For Two Servicemen In Urination Case

The Marine Corps said it will court-martial two servicemen for allegedly urinating on the bodies of Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

The incident became public after a video surfaced in January that showed four Marines urinating on three bodies.

The AP reports:

"The charges are against Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin and Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola. They are based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"The two also were charged with other misconduct on the same day as the urination incident. That includes dereliction of duty by failing to properly supervise junior Marines and failing to stop and report misconduct of junior Marines."

As we reported, last month, the Pentagon announced that three other Marines involved in the incident had received "non judicial punishment." Their names were not released, but they likely received a reduction in rank and a forfeit in pay.

According to the AP, the Marine Corps signalled they were readying more action against additional Marines.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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