US Army Reservist Lynndie England will plead guilty in a military court on Monday for abusing Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    BEIJING, May 2 --US Army Reservist Lynndie England will plead guilty in a military court on Monday for abusing Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

   The decision was announced by her civilian lawyer Rick Hernandez on Friday.

    He said the 22-year old army reservist will plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of dereliction of duty.

    But doubts have been expressed about England's psychological health.

    "We're going to delve into her mental health issues, her severe learning deficit, who Lynndie England is as a person and how she got in the situation where she is in." he said.

    England's lawyers have also argued that she was acting on orders from military intelligence to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations.

    Defence psychologist Dr. Xavier Amador said England is a young woman in many respects under the control psychologically of a much older man who outranked her.

    But Army investigators have testified that England said the reservists took the photos while they were joking around, having some fun.

    "There's an awful lot of this case that simply doesn't fall into the norm or into the usual rules and I think the defence is between a rock and a hard place in many ways." said Kevin J. Barry, a US Military Law Expert.

    England, who was a clerk in the Baghdad prison, is scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday at Fort Hood.

    England faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison as part of the plea deal, which still must be accepted by a military judge, Hernandez said.

    She had been facing up to 16 years, but one count of committing indecent acts and one count of failure to obey a lawful order will be dismissed, dropping the maximum sentence to 11 years.

    England was one of seven members of the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company charged with humiliating and assaulting prisoners at the prison.

    A panel of soldiers will determine England's punishment.

    Four other members of the 372nd and two low-level military intelligence officers have entered guilty pleas, with sentences ranging from no time to 8 years.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)