Soldiers sentenced to 10 months for drinking beer

ISTANBUL

Colombian Navy special forces take part in an anti-drug drill at the ARC Antioquia Frigate in the harbour of Covenas, Colombia, on August 31, 2012.AFP PHOTO/Luis Acosta

Two soldiers on the Turkish Gediz frigate have been sentenced to 10 months in prison for drinking beer left over from a cocktail party, daily Habertürk has reported.
 
The two were caught drinking the beer last November while cleaning up in the wake of a cocktail party that was given on the vessel, which is in the Indian Ocean fighting against Somali pirates.
 
The soldiers were sentenced to 10 months in prison on the grounds of “disobedience during military mobilization.”
 
A military prosecutor, however, claimed the grounds for sentencing should be changed to "insistence on disobedience" instead of "disobedience during military mobilization,” saying the cocktail party hosted on the frigate may have caused the soldiers to misjudge the situation.
 
The lawyer for the soldiers has also appealed, asking for the sentence to be overruled.
 
“There was no proper order given for the disobedience to occur," the lawyer said. "High-ranking officers also participated in drinking during the party. It cannot be expected that plain soldiers will know the state of military mobilization when high-ranking officials don't."
 
Under military law, those found guilty of insistence on disobedience can be sentenced to between one month and one year in prison. The charge of insistence on disobedience during military mobilization, however, carries a prison sentence of up to five years.