Soldier defends friend facing a court martial (From Gazette)

Soldier defends friend facing a court martial

4:00pm Wednesday 23rd September 2009 in News By Gareth Palmer

A COLCHESTER soldier has spoken out in defence of a former colleague who is alleged to have killed a wounded and unarmed man in Afghani-stan.

Robert Semrau, now a captain in the Canadian Army, was a member of the town’s 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment between 1999 and 2003.

The 35-year-old faces a Court martial in Canada after he is alleged to have shot a man suffering wounds “too severe for any type of treatment” in the field.

Court papers state he was training an Afghan National Army unit when they were ambushed in Helmand province last October.

After an airstrike from an Apache helicopter, the patrol discovered one dead and one seriously wounded insurgent.

A gun was taken from the wounded man before Semrau was allegedly seen firing his rifle at him and two shots were heard.

The soldiers moved on and the body of the dead insurgent was never recovered.

Corporal John Price, of 2 Para, served with Semrau in Northern Ireland, Macedonia and Afghanistan.

He said: “All the blokes are up in arms about what’s happening to him and we just want to show our support.

“We went through training together and he was one of my best mates. He went back home with his wife Amelie to join the Canadian Army and we’ve exchanged e-mails over the years.”

Cpl Price said his friend was “being made a scapegoat for Canadian policy”.

He said: “British troops would call in medical evacuation for anyone who’s injured, but the Canadian Army leave wounded enemy on the battlefield. This Taleban fighter was going to die and, if anything, Rob has acted with compassion and put him out of his misery.”

Semrau has been charged with second-degree murder, attempted murder, behaving in a disgraceful manner and negligently performing a military duty.

No date has been set for his trial.