The US military prison guard convicted of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib said on Saturday he complained repeatedly to superiors about the rough treatment he was forced to mete out to prisoners. Charles Graner, who was found guilty on Friday on 10 charges in the scandal that has badly damaged America's reputation, said during the sentencing phase of his court-martial that he was told to "follow orders."
The military jury that convicted Graner, seen as the ringleader in the Abu Ghraib abuse case, will consider later on Saturday whether to pass the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Graner, 36, the first soldier to go on trial in the scandal, took the stand for the first time on Saturday to ask the jury for a lesser sentence.
He named several higher-ranking people to whom he complained about the conditions or treatment forced upon the prisoners, citing isolation cells where he said they were kept on a limited sleep cycle and diet.
"We had a person in an isolation cell ... we were terrorising him," he said referring to sleep deprivation tactics and erratic meal times.
"A lot of our off-the-wall stuff was from the civilian interrogator," Graner said. "We yelled and we screamed a lot."
When he complained to superiors, he said he was told to "follow your order, charge on."
The former civilian prison guard showed little emotion on Friday after the jury of 10 male officers and enlisted men found him guilty on 10 charges, many of which were documented by photographs of sexual humiliation of naked male prisoners that shocked the world.
In a Friday night court session, his parents, Charles and Irma Graner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who had sat stonefaced throughout most of the trial, described their son as a good boy and good father to his two children.
"He's not the monster he's being made out to be. In my eyes, he'll always be a hero," Irma Graner told the jury.
Charles Graner Sr., made an even more emotional appeal for the jury to deal leniently with his son. Fighting back tears, he said, "I'd get down and beg, but I know that he wouldn't want me to do it."
The elder Graner stopped by his son's side as he left the witness stand and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I love you," he said of his public display of sentiment.
Four others have been convicted in the Iraqi prison abuse scandal after reaching plea bargains.
During the trial, prosecutors provided evidence, including graphic videos and photos, that Graner forced seven Iraqi prisoners to stack themselves into a naked human pyramid and later posed for photos before them. On another occasion, he photographed his lover, Pfc. Lynndie England, holding a leash he put around the neck of a naked prisoner.
Graner's lawyer says the former Pennsylvania prison guard was following orders of military intelligence officials at Abu Ghraib outside Baghdad as part of a vital, larger US war effort in Iraq.
After the verdict was announced, the prosecution called several witnesses to speak about the impact on Graner's actions on them in the penalty phase of the trial.
"I wanted to pursue a career in the military, sir, but, to be honest, after this I don't," Spc. Matthew Wisdom, who complained about the abuses he saw at Abu Ghraib but was ignored.
The prosecution also played a video conference excerpt of one of the Iraqis put into the human pyramid who said the torture altered his image of the United States.