Four soldiers face retrial in Nangar Khel massacre case
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
09.01.2013 12:00
The re-trial of four Polish soldiers accused of war crimes following the killing of six Afghanis at a wedding party in the village of Nangar Khel began in Warsaw on Tuesday.
Four defendants in court, Wed, from left to right: Łukasz Bywalec, Damian Ligocki, Tomasz Borysiewicz and Andrzej Osiecki : photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
The four men, Second Lieutenant Łukasz Bywalec, Warrant Officer Andrzej Osiecki, Sargent Tomasz Borysiewicz and Senior Master Sargent Damian Ligocki from the elite 18th Airborne-Assault Battalion were acquitted with three other soldiers in 2011 due to “lack of evidence”.
The decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in March 2012, which ordered a re-trial for four of the men after finding their evidence inconsistent.
Six civilians, including a pregnant woman and three children were killed when Polish troops fired rounds into the village of Nangar Khel, Paktika Province on 16 August 2007 after coming under attack from insurgents.
The Polish troops said that fire was returned from the village although locals deny the claim.
The Polish armed forces later paid compensation to the villagers, including the gift of a goat, but military prosecutors called for the arrest and trial of seven soldiers on war crimes charges. (pg)