Convicted Florida soldier pursuing conscientious objector status

[struggle4progress]

<snip>
Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, 28, of Miami Beach, Fla., was convicted in a military court at Fort Stewart, Ga., of desertion May 21 after he failed to return to his Florida National Guard unit following a two-week leave in October.

Now he's asking a military hearings officer to recommend that he be considered a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq. Human rights group Amnesty International has already declared Mejia a "prisoner of conscience," said his attorney, Louis Font.

Mejia, who served 5 1/2 months near the Sunni Triangle, said the horrors of war made him a conscientious objector.
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"I've been practicing military law for about three decades and I've never seen anything like this," Font said. "The Pentagon usually gives someone a hearing on their conscientious objector status before convicting them. They moved full steam ahead to convict him after his application."
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http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/special_packages/iraq/8978481.htm

[Mnemosyne]

1. Why is shrub still loose????????