US major to be tried for killing Afghan citizen

KABUL (Pajhwok): A US Army major accused of killing an unarmed Afghan citizen in 2010 has been referred to trial by general court-martial.

During a polygraph test for a CIA interview, former Special Forces Maj. Matthew Golsteyn had confessed to killing an unarmed Afghan in February 2010.

The man had had allegedly built a bomb that killed two Marines. His charge sheet does not provide any details on how Golsteyn shot dead the suspected bomb maker, as Rasoul.

His case was referred to trial by Lt. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette, the commanding general for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the militaryy.com reported.

Golsteyn forwent in Feb. 13 his right to an Article 32 preliminary hearing slated for March 14 to assess the evidence against him.

Under the US Uniform Code of Military Justice, An an Article 32 hearing is similar to a preliminary hearing in civilian law. It is needed before a accused can be referred to a general court-martial.

Golsteyn was based at Fort Bragg. He was among the US forces stationed in the Marja district of southern Helmand province in 2010,, when he killed the Afghan.

After Golsteyn described the killing during the interview with the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Army launched a probe against him in September 2011.

As a result of the shooting, Golsteyn was stripped of his Special Forces Green Beret tab and a Silver Star medal and expelled from the army in 2015.

But the army pulled him back into the service to face the homicide charge.

PAN Monitor.mud