FORT HOOD, Texas, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Military prosecutors argued Wednesday the Muslim-American major charged in the Fort Hood, Texas, Army base massacre must be clean-shaven during his trial.
Maj. Nidal Hassan, 41, should be forcibly shaved of the beard he has grown while in custody to avoid a "distracting and disruptive sideshow" that is "flagrantly disrespecting the Army," prosecutors said in pressing the issue on military authority and decorum grounds.
The trial for Hassan, accused of 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 shooting rampage, is on hold pending a ruling, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It was not clear when a ruling would be made.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces had issued an order last week to allow Hassan to keep his beard, saying forcing him to shave would violate his religious freedom, the Times said.
But in court documents, prosecutors called his beard "a direct challenge to the military judge's authority" to maintain military decorum, pointing out that Hassan was cited for contempt five times prior to the appellate court's ruling for not complying with the shaving order and removed from the court to watch the proceedings on television.
If not forced to shave, prosecutors said, he "injects potential error" into the trial and he will "further inflame the [military court] panel to his own detriment."
