A Canadian soldier has been sentenced to 21 days in a military jail for remaining in bed while guerrillas attacked a Canadian outpost in Afghanistan last year.
Master Corporal Paul Patrick Billard, 33, was supposed to act as a stretcher bearer in the event of an attack. Instead, he stayed under the covers during a nighttime strike on the Canadian garrison in May 2006.
"You displayed a total lack of discipline and a lack of respect for orders by remaining in bed, by refusing to don your helmet and your flak vest and by refusing to report to your assigned place of duty," said the decision by judge Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Guy Perron, in the court-martial convened at a military base in Halifax, in eastern Canada.
Fellow soldiers had urged Billard to get out of bed when two attackers launched a rocket-propelled grenade at a guard tower at about 02:00 am, setting off warning sirens. But he refused.
A guard returned fire and a patrol was sent after the fighters. The melee lasted more than an hour.
"It surely is not the conduct we expect of Canadian non-commissioned officers," Perron was quoted by AFP as saying. "Your duty is to follow orders and to ensure the welfare and discipline of your subordinates. You failed this duty miserably."
Billard is currently free on bail while he appeals the sentencing. (*)
Copyright © 2007 ANTARA
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