ABSTRACT
In October 2012, following an investigation by the Royal Military Police (RMP), the UK Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) charged five Royal Marines on suspicion of murder in relation to an incident alleged to have taken place in Helmand, Afghanistan in 2011. The arrests came after a video was discovered on a laptop which appeared to show members of a patrol discussing whether to administer first aid to an injured Taliban fighter. The footage is said to cut out before anything happens; the RMP subsequently confirmed the man had died. Within two weeks of the arrests, a Facebook page, ‘Free the 5 Royal Marines Charged with Murdering a Taliban Terrorist’ had amassed over 25,000 supporters. Events in support of the defendants were arranged to take place in late October in Edinburgh, Swansea, Norwich and London. Commentaries posted on the Facebook site were incredulous as to why the Marines had been charged with murder: the dead man was an enemy insurgent and the soldiers were engaged in an armed conflict.
