Joe Glenton, sentenced for nine months for refusing to kill

Joe Glenton, British soldier who refused to stay in Afghanistan, was sentenced by the martial court to nine months imprisonment.

Glenton joined the army at the age of 22, in 2004. According to his defence counsel, Nick Wrack, Glenton was persuaded that the military was helping the local population in Afghanistan. The reality of the conflict soon undermined this belief. After his base in Helmand province had come uder rocket attack, Glenton developed a post-traumatic stress disorder.

Instead of going back to Afghanistan to serve his second seven months tour, Glenton fled to Bangkok and remained in Asia and Australia for over two years before handing himself in to British military authorities in June last year.

Joe Glenton was not the first British soldier to go AWOL (absent without leave), but the first to speak about his decision publicly. After his return to Britain, he got a lot of support from his former camarades and anti-war movement (see also http://queesch.lu/lang/en/2009/11/17/british-refusenik-facing-prison/)

Contrary to that, he got no help from the military authorities, even though he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Due to his psychological condition, he stopped his public performances. His mother Sue Glenton and his wife Clare Glenton continued to speak out in his name.

Following her son’s nine months jail sentence for refusing to fight in Afghanistan, Sue Glenton said:

“I am extremely angry. The court barely paid lip service to justice. The judge clearly didn’t listen to the arguments or if she did she ignored them. The lawyers are considering an appeal. The Ministry of Defence will be hearing a lot more from me.”

More: http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/1772/1/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/barbara-ellen-joe-glenton-awol

Messages of support to Joe Glentoncan be sent by email:

defendjoeglenton@gmail.com