The US court has sentenced its own citizen for being involved in torture and other crimes in Iraq.
According to the AFP news agency, the federal court in the state of Pennsylvania has convicted a 54-year-old American citizen named Ross Roggio of violent incidents in Iraqi Kurdistan, including other crimes, for which he may be imprisoned for life.
The US Department of Justice says that in 2015, Ross Raggio was going to open an arms factory in Iraqi Kurdistan to produce the M4 automatic rifle.
A statement issued by the Department of Justice said that Ross Raggio was illegally importing weapons parts from the United States for the project when a fellow official raised objections.
According to the Department of Justice, this factory employee from the European country of Estonia was kidnapped by the Kurdish army when he questioned the plan of Ras Raggio.
The factory worker was detained in a Kurdish army camp for 39 days, during which he was interrogated and tortured several times by US citizen Ross Roggio.
Ras Rajiv ordered the soldiers present to hit the man with a pipe, use a bag to suffocate him, and threaten to chop off his fingers with a sharp instrument.
“At one point, Ross Raggio wrapped his belt around the victim’s neck, threw him to the ground, and then hung him until he was unconscious,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Earlier in 2018, 37 charges were filed against Ross Raggio and his company based on illegally imported parts for a project to manufacture automatic rifles.
Last year, the Department of Justice charged Ras Rajiv with torture under the Torture Act of 1994.
The US court on Friday convicted Ross Raggio of torture, conspiracy, illegal arms export, money laundering, smuggling, and other crimes.
Only one other US citizen, Charles Telles, has been convicted under the Torture Act of 1994.
