Senators Call for Probe of Army Chaplain Spy Case

Two Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee called Friday for the Pentagon to conduct an investigation into its treatment of a Muslim Army chaplain who was suspected of spying, detained for months and then quietly released.

Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the committee, and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said the manner in which Capt. James Joseph Yee was detained and prosecuted “raises serious questions about the fair and effective administration of military justice.”

They urged Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a letter “to give this issue your immediate attention.”

The military initially held Yee, 36, on suspicion of espionage at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, where he was a Muslim chaplain ministering to terrorism suspects.

He was arrested in September and placed in solitary confinement for 76 days.

When the military finally brought charges, Yee was accused of “mishandling classified documents,” not espionage. Then, earlier this year, that charge and all other criminal counts against Yee were dropped and he was released.

In a noncriminal hearing in March, Yee was found guilty on lesser charges of adultery and possessing pornography and received a written reprimand from the Army.

The senators said the Pentagon should investigate the Army’s handling of the case, “including whether the extensive pre-trial confinement and the charges against the chaplain were supported by the evidence.”

They said the probe should look into “how and why information in the case was released to the press,” noting that media reports had cited anonymous government sources saying Yee was suspected of espionage, aiding the enemy and treason.