New York Times: Trump asks for papers to forgive American war criminals



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The graces of the president who, during the electoral campaign, expressed their support for a "more severe" tactic than that of waterboarding and the pursuit of terrorist families, could "come around Memorial Day," said two US officials at the Times.

A military official told The Times that the White House had sent his request to the Justice Ministry on Friday and that, although the pardon files usually took several months, the Justice Ministry had pointed out that they had to be completed before the Memorial Day weekend.

According to the Times, a Navy SEAL could be convicted for shooting unarmed civilians and killing an injured person, as well as many other people accused or convicted of shooting at unarmed civilians.

Trump had previously expressed his sympathy for Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL in question, in a tweet from March announcing that he would be transferred to a "less restrictive confinement" before his trial.

"In the honor of his past service to our country, Navy Seal #EddieGallagher will soon be transferred to a less restrictive isolation while he is waiting for his day in court.The procedure should move forward quickly! @Foxandfriends @RepRalphNorman" said Trump on Twitter.

Gallagher was indicted last year for various violent incidents in Iraq in 2017.
During the election campaign, Trump hinted that he would support torture as president of the detainees, and after strong resistance for his enthusiastic comments on waterboarding and the murder of terrorist families, he reversed the position in a statement. But just days after being sworn in, Trump again expressed support for the torture and said he "absolutely believed" that it worked.

Trump's potential pardons for convicted war criminals and criminals would mark the latest move by the US president to a change in US wartime and treatment standards for detainees , that he had hinted during the election campaign.

Earlier this month, Trump pardoned Michael Behenna, a former army soldier sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a detainee he had driven into the Iraqi desert and fired twice. In April, the Trump administration canceled the Attorney General's visa to the International Criminal Court, and a spokesman said at the time that the United States would take the necessary steps "to protect our people against unfair investigation ".
The ICC, of ​​which the United States is not a member, had already requested leave to open an investigation into the crimes committed by US troops in Afghanistan.

Jennifer Hansler and Kevin Bohn of CNN contributed to this report.

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