By Andrew Duffy, Postmedia News/Vancouver Sun
The Canadian military will not appeal the sentence handed to former captain Robert Semrau in his unprecedented court martial.
Semrau, 36, was demoted and dismissed from the military in September after being convicted of disgraceful conduct for shooting a severely wounded Taliban fighter on an Afghan battlefield.
The military tribunal heard evidence suggesting the incident was an act of mercy intended to end the dying man’s suffering.
Military prosecutors had asked for a two-year jail tern, but the judge in the case, Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron, rejected that recommendation and imposed a more lenient sentence.
The appellate counsel at the Canadian Military Prosecutions Service, Maj. Steven Richards, recently confirmed that the appeal period in the case has expired.
The military, he said, did not appeal Semrau’s acquittal on more serious charges — second-degree murder and attempted murder — or his sentence.
Semrau’s legal team also did not file a notice of appeal.
It means Semrau, a married father of two young children, will be able to move on with his life as a civilian two years after being the first Canadian officer arrested for a battlefield shooting.
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