Pentagon suspends sentence against general at Guantanamo Bay

MIAMI – A Pentagon spokesman says a Marine Corps general is no longer confined to quarters for contempt at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay.

Air Force Maj. Ben Sakrisson says the Pentagon suspended a sentence which found that Brig. Gen. John Baker should be confined to quarters for 21-days and fined $1,000 pending a review by a Department of Defence legal official.

Baker was informed of the decision Friday while awaiting a ruling to a legal challenge filed in civilian federal court in Washington.

Baker is in charge of the defence teams for war crimes cases at Guantanamo. A military judge ruled he was in contempt of court for dismissing three defence lawyers without court permission in the case of a prisoner charged in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.