Life sentences for Kenya deserters

Courts-martial presided over by civilian magistrates serving as judge advocates have started to wrap up proceedings in the series of Kenya Defence Forces desertion-in-wartime cases that have been hanging fire since earlier this year. According to this article, four have been sentenced to life imprisonment; 20 more are in the queue. The accused (who claim to have resigned from the service) left without permission in 2007-08 for the purpose of earning more by working for U.S. security firms in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. They were, they complain, tricked into returning to the military so they could pick up their separation papers. The Standard's report adds: "The public and media are barred from the three trials." Sigh.