Edward Gallagher, Navy SEAL, accused of war crimes, released while awaiting trial

San Diego – The attorneys of a naval decorated naval officer, sentenced for murder on the death of a prisoner of Islamic states in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), will again try to have the military court overturned. after their client was released unexpectedly.

A military judge on Thursday released Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, in which he gasped in a San Diego court.

Judge Aaron Rugh stated that the release of the platoon leader was a remedy for prosecutors, which interfered with his right to counsel in accordance with the Sixth Amendment.

Gallagher's lawyers have condemned the charge for launching an unusual effort to find the source of news leaks in the politically charged case by incorporating tracking code into e-mails sent to defense lawyers and a Navy Times reporter.

The defense lawyer, Tim Parlatore, had accused prosecutors of a "rogue, implacable and illegal cyber-campaign" that could have violated the solicitor-client privilege and hurt the ability of his client to get a fair trial.

Andrea, Gallagher's wife, who led a campaign to free her husband, put her hands in the face and burst into tears.

"I have the impression that it's a small victory on the way to wider victory," said Andrea Gallagher in court while her husband stood silently by his side, in the White Navy.

"We have been completely terrorized by all this farce," said Andrea Gallagher.

He did not comment, on the advice of his lawyers.

A spokesman for naval prosecutors would also not comment on Gallagher's freedom or developments at the hearing, which will continue on Friday.

Gallagher pleaded not guilty to the murder of a wounded youth activist in Iraq in 2017 and in an attempted murder for allegedly kidnapping civilians from the roost of a sniper.

Lieutenant Jacob Portier, his platoon superior, complains of conduct unbecoming an officer who allegedly presided at Gallagher's re-enlistment ceremony next to the activist's corpse.

Efforts to get the case closed come at a time when President Trump is considering pardoning several members of the Armed Forces accused of war crimes, including Gallagher, who is set to stand trial on June 10.

One of Gallagher's civil defense lawyers, Marc Mukasey, is also a personal lawyer for the president, says Reuters press service.

Gallagher could face life imprisonment if he is found guilty of all the charges, including the murder, the attempt

murder and obstruction of justice, says Reuters.

Gallagher says the other SEALS testifying against him – many after gaining immunity – are unhappy subordinates who have made allegations in an attempt to remove him from his command, Reuters adds.

Evidence at the hearing showed that prosecutors had tasked an intelligence specialist with the Naval Criminal Investigation Service to control three civilian lawyers, including Parlatore, and a Navy Times reporter, who had told several stories about the database disclosed.

On Thursday, Rugh said that the investigators told him in private that they were planning to incorporate code into what he considered to be a judicial document to help them find the source of the leaks, but the judge said he did not have the power to authorize it and not They were told that they planned to target e-mails sent to defense lawyers or a journalist.

The senior prosecutor played down the gesture at a related hearing earlier in the day. Cmdr. Christopher Czaplak said that the code embedded in the e-mail recorded nothing more than where and when messages were opened by the recipients.

Czaplak said the hunt ended on May 10 after defense lawyers uncovered the code in an unusual logo depicting an American flag with a Bald Eagle perched on the scales of justice under Czaplak's signature.

On Thursday, Czaplak said the code was similar to what marketers use to know when an email is open and on which device.

"It's still a Web virus and it's still not ethical," said defense attorney Jeremiah J. Sullivan III, who portrays Portier.

Judge Jonathan Stephens, judge in the Porter case, said that, from what he had seen, the tracking effort had not allowed viewing of the content mails.

Several experts said the code could not usually be used to identify a particular person or to capture content.