GATINEAU, Que. — It’s now up to a military judge to decide if Capt. Robert Semrau gets busted down in rank with a hard slap on the wrist, or gets booted from the Canadian Forces and thrown in jail.
Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron will take until Sept. 9 to mull arguments by the prosecution and defence before delivering a sentence.
Military prosecutors say Semrau should be dismissed in disgrace from the Canadian Forces and spend two years, less a day, in jail for shooting an unarmed and badly wounded enemy fighter in Afghanistan .
But Semrau’s lawyer says a reduction in rank and a severe reprimand are more fitting.
Semrau was convicted last week of disgraceful conduct in the shooting and a military court is hearing final arguments on sentencing.
Prosecutor Lt.-Col. Mario Leveillee said Semrau let the Canadian Forces down when he fired two rounds into an insurgent who had been strafed by a helicopter.
He questioned how the public would feel had Semrau shot a grievously wounded Canadian soldier in an act of mercy, or if an insurgent had done the same for a Canadian soldier.
“Only Capt. Semrau knows what his motivation was,” Leveillee said. “But whatever his motivations, it was a shockingly inappropriate choice.”