A U.S. Army medic who refused to be redeployed to Iraq because of his moral objections to war was convicted of desertion in a court martial in Wuerzburg, Germany on Tuesday. The courts had previously rejected the request of Specialist Agustin Aguayo to be classified as a conscientious objector, so he fled to his home rather than be redeployed. Three weeks later he turned himself in.
Even though he was convicted, the court imposed a light sentence. Aguayo was sentenced to 8 months in prison, reduced in rank to private, ordered to forfeit pay and was given a bad conduct discharge. However he could have been sentenced to 7 years in prison. The Associated Press yesterday reported that since Aguayo has already served 161 days in jail awaiting trial, his attorney expected that he would be released in about 6 weeks.
